Into the Darkness
by gibbsrossi
Summary: A con goes wrong and Nate sustains a potentially life altering injury. Now Sophie and the team have to help Nate cope with his injuries and the repurcussions of the con they had tried to run. Teamfic with a strong Nate / Sophie slant.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Again I have to thank YeahLev for the idea for this story. Hope you enjoy.**

The con had gone to hell and Nate and Sophie were trapped in their fake apartment with the mark and one of his goons. The goon held a gun on them while the mark poured himself a drink.

"Did you really think I would not cotton to your little con…?"

"Well actually no I didn't…" Nate said sotto voice to Sophie.

The mark stared at them as he lifted the freshly poured drink to his lips. "Nobody comes between me and my money…" He said then downed the drink slamming the glass on the table. "Nobody…" He hissed.

"_Nate I'm almost there just stall him…"_ Eliot's voice came through the coms and Nate stepped forward deliberately putting himself between Sophie and the goon with the gun.

"Well...you know…" Nate said throwing his hands around as he usually did trying to distract both the men. "You really do have this all wrong…"

"Do I?" The mark asked. "So you didn't want to get your hands on my money?"

"Oh…no, no, no we really did want that…" Nate said smiling at the mark. "but we…well…"

"Miscalculated…" The mark supplied. "Well now your miscalculation is going to cost you…" The mark said nodding to his man who raised his gun pointing it at Nate.

Just then the door burst open and Parker and Eliot came through. The commotion caused the goon to delay slightly which gave Eliot time to knock him sideways sending the gun spinning out onto the balcony. Nate pulled Sophie back and told Parker to get her out of there. Nate turned back to see Eliot struggling with the goon and the mark made a rush for the balcony. He saw the man lift the gun and aim it at the Hitter who was being held in a bear grip by the large man. In that spit second Nate launched himself at the mark, hitting him as he pulled the trigger. His momentum throwing him and the mark into the railing and then both fell over. Inside the apartment the bullet fired from the gun flew off target hitting the goon in the forehead and killing him instantly.

"NAATEE…." Sophie screamed out as she saw the Mastermind and the mark go over the balcony. She pulled her hand free from Parker as ran out onto the balcony staring down at the street below.

Eliot felt the goon go limp and then heard Sophie's scream. He turned to see her rushing for the balcony and in that sweep of the room noticed Nate was nowhere to be seen. He followed Sophie onto the balcony and leaned over.

Hardison was downstairs in the van monitoring everything that was going down. He heard the commotion and then the gun fire followed by Sophie's anguished scream. Climbing out of the van he froze and then rushed forward.

"Don't move him Hardison…" Eliot yelled down at the Hacker as he saw him approach the two bodies that had landed on the street below.

Hardison knelt at the side of the Mastermind who was lying on his stomach next to the mark who lay facing up blood seeping from his head into the tarmac and his eyes staring sightlessly into the sky. Hardison reached out a shaky hand to feel for a pulse which he silently prayed he would find. Finding a pulse he let out a breath he had not even realized he had been holding and then reached for his phone to dial 911.

Sophie looked down at the scene below, Nate lay beside the mark, his leg was bent at an awkward angle. She watched as Hardison approached the Mastermind and heard Eliot's shouted warning to the Hacker. Time seemed to slow to nothing as she watched the Hacker reach out to feel for a pulse. Hardison looked up at them and nodded before pulling out his phone to dial the emergency services. Sophie turned and ran out of the apartment followed by Parker and Eliot. The three of them ignored the elevator and rushed down the stairs to emerge minutes later onto the street.

"Sophie we can't move him." Eliot warned her as she fell to her knees at his side. "He could have damage we can't see, we need to wait for the paramedics."

"Nate…" Sophie said softly leaning down so that her face was almost beside his. "Nate…" In the distance she could hear the sirens of the ambulance and she looked up at Eliot her eyes questioning.

Eliot looked down at the Grifter. He could not tell her the Mastermind was going to be fine. Nate had fallen from the third floor and he did not know how bad his injuries were, but they were not going to be minor. He could see just from looking at the Mastermind that his leg was broken for one. He was relieved not to see any blood seeping from under the man nor from his head, but Eliot was sure there would be internal injuries and perhaps injury to the brain…nobody walks away from a fall that that without some damage.

The ambulance pulled up a few minutes later and the paramedics were working on Nate a few seconds later. Eliot moved Sophie away to give them space and looked over to Hardison as he heard more sirens. Hardison nodded and disappeared into Lucille. He really wanted to stay with the other and make sure Nate was alright but he knew he had to get them some cover in place because he like Eliot was sure the oncoming sirens were the police. As Hardison worked on their cover Eliot, Sophie and Parker watched them work on Nate.

The police arrived a few minutes later and Hardison was ready with their covers. Nate and Sophie were Interpol agents who were working on taking down a man who had conned innocent people out of millions of dollars. He was sure it would hold the locals at least for a while. He did not have time to do too much else before the police were on the scene.

Hardison's cover for them held up although Eliot could tell that the detectives that had also arrived on the scene were not convinced. He did not blame them. They were dealing with a double homicide, the goon in the apartment and the mark who lay covered on the sidewalk. For now though they had nothing to contradict their cover story. They had no option than to let the group go with Nate to the hospital, warning them to make themselves available for questioning later. By the time they had finished with the police the paramedics had loaded Nate into the ambulance and were ready to transport him. Unfortunately there was no room in the vehicle for any one of them to go with Nate so they piled into Lucile and followed.

Nate was immediately taken into the ER with doctors crowding around him. Sophie and the others were shown to a waiting room where they were told the doctor would find them when there was any news.

Inside the ER room the doctors started to work on Nate. Nate groaned as they worked on his leg indicating that he was starting to regain consciousness. He had been completely immobilized in order to prevent any further injury should has spine have been damaged. Nate groaned again and opened his eyes. He was in incredible pain, Sophie he thought desperately, was Sophie alright? He tried to move but couldn't and he started to panic. The doctor moved in putting his hand on Nate's arm trying to calm him down.

"Mr Ford…I am doctor Felix Harper." The doctor said leaning over his patient. "You are in Portland General Hospital, you had a fall."

"Sophie…" Nate managed to get out.

"She is fine so are your other friends…" The doctor told and then barked out his orders as Nate's eyes fell closed again.

As Nate was wheeled out of the ER the doctor came over to talk to Sophie.

"Mrs Ford…?" He asked as he approached.

"Yes…"

"Mrs Ford I am Dr Felix Harper and I will be looking after your husband."

"How is he?" Sophie asked anxiously.

"Well he has sustained multiple fractures to his left leg, a fractured wrist and a dislocated shoulder. He has also got some internal injuries, we will not know how severe until we get him into the OR. We are taking him for a CT and an MRI to determine if there has been any neurological damage." The doctor told her. "His vital signs are strong though. I will come and find you after the surgery, until then I can really not tell you any more than that."

"Thank you doctor…" Sophie said softly. The doctor nodded and then turned and left.

"He's going to be fine Sophie…" Parker said softly taking the Grifter's hand. Sophie smiled weakly at the Thief and nodded not trusting herself to speak.

"Of course he is…he's Nate…" Hardison said but his voice was shaky and filled with emotion.

It was three hours later when the doctor finally came to see them.

"Doctor how is he?" Sophie immediately asked as the doctor approached.

"He is stable and came through the surgery fine. His leg was severely fractured and the orthopedic surgeon had to replace the bone with a metal rod. He also repaired his fractured wrist. Now the internal damage was not as bad as it could be. He has four broken ribs and another five were cracked. The good news is that there was no internal bleeding and he seems to have no organ damage."

"What about his back?" Eliot asked.

"There was no spinal cord injury. He did however sustain some damage to the brain. There was no fracture and no bleed however the brain was severely bruised. We will not know the full effects, if any until he wakes up. I must warn you that he is going to be in some pain when he does wake and he may be a little confused and disorientated. He may also suffer some effects such as nausea, dizziness and headache from the brain injury. It will be a long recovery process but, barring any further complications, he should recover fully. Your husband was a very lucky man." The doctor told them. "He is in recovery now but as soon as they move him to his room the nurse will bring you to him."

"Thank you doctor..." Sophie said gratefully.

"See I told you…" Parker said smiling. Nate might take some time to recover but the doctor had said he would, he would be fine.

They were able to see him twenty minutes later. He lay in his own private room. His leg which was in a cast was propped up with a pillow. His arm was tightly bandaged to his side to keep it immobile and his other arm had a cast on it for the broken wrist.

"Hey darling…" Sophie said placing her hand on his forehead gently then leaning in to put a soft kiss there. "You're going to fine." She said smiling down at him tears pricking her eyes as she did.

"Now that that is cleared up perhaps somebody could tell me just what the hell is going on?"

"Sterling…" Eliot said recognizing the voice immediately.

"Spencer." Sterling said as he walked into the room and up to the foot of Nate's bed. "What happened, and why was Interpol called by some local cops to find out if a Nathan Ford et al were agents from Interpol? Luckily for you I have a standing order that anything to do with any of you gets passed through me"

"It's a long story…" Sophie said.

"Well I appear to have some time." Sterling said looking at the Grifter. "Now if you want me to continue to…play along with this you better convince me as to why."

"You owe him." Sophie told him.

"Yes I do and that is why I came down here instead of just telling that nice detective that you are all a bunch of thieves and con artists and having you arrested. So start talking." Sterling said walking to one of the chairs in the room and sitting down looking expectantly at the Grifter.

Sophie nodded and then proceeded to tell Sterling the whole story from the time the client had come to them to the time that Nate and the mark went flying off the balcony.

"I thought you too were out of this whole…thing you do." Sterling said.

"We were…we are…this woman came to Nate and you know Nate, he can't turn away from somebody who is hurting like that. This man this…this Houston, he was taking people's money, promising them that he could save their loved ones by getting them the best treatment possible, some impossible cure for whatever they have and then disappears with their money…what do you think Nate would do?"

"Yeah well…" Sterling said standing up and walking to the Masterminds bedside. "Just make sure you don't pull something like this again."

"Thank you James…" Sophie said softly using the man's first name. She knew that Sterling had used Nate a couple of times on cases since they had retired from the business. He and Nate had rekindled their friendship from before, although neither one would admit to it.

"Is he going to be Ok…?"

"Now he asks." Eliot said under his breath earning him a glare from the Interpol Agent.

"The doctor said there was no permanent damage, at least not physically. We have to wait till he wakes up to know if there is any…any other…damage." Sophie said looking down at Nate.

"Well I got to be going…" Sterling said. "Tell him when he wakes up…this time we are even."

"That guy is…is…" Hardison said rolling his eyes as he watched the man leave.

"A good friend of Nate's…and completely insufferable." Sophie said watching as Sterling walked out and stopped briefly to talk to the detectives who had been waiting outside the room.

Sophie watched them for a few seconds and then turned back to Nate. She sat down on the chair that Eliot had placed beside him and placed her hand on his arm. The others also made themselves comfortable waiting for Nate to wake.

**Well that is the start of the new story. I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was almost three hours later when Nate finally woke up. He groaned slightly as he came back to consciousness, he felt as if every part of his body hurt. He heard Sophie's voice and felt her soft hand on his forehead as he fought to open his eyes.

"Nate darling, that's it open your eyes for me." Sophie told him as she watched him try to wake. "Come on my darling let me see those beautiful blue eyes…"

The others were also gathered around the bed waiting for Nate to open his eyes.

"Sophie…" Nate said his voice hoarse. His throat was sore and dry. He cracked open an eye and stared up.

"That's it Nate…" Sophie said as Nate's eyes opened. She could immediately see though that something was wrong.

"Sophie…" Nate said again and this time there was some panic in his voice.

"It's ok Nate…I'm here…" Sophie said not quite understanding what was happening. Nate's eyes were open but he seemed not to see her.

"Eliot get the doctor." She said taking Nate's face in her hands and whispering that it was alright. "Nate…just relax, you had a fall and you hit your head, don't panic darling we are going to get the doctor in now."

"I can't see Sophie…" Nate said softly.

"It's ok Nate…" Sophie said again not knowing what else to say.

"Mrs Ford if you don't mind." The doctor said as he walked in followed by Eliot. Sophie moved out of the way and let the doctor take her place at Nate's side. "Mr Ford I am Dr Felix Harper and I am going to examine you ok?"

Nate nodded.

"Ok just relax Mr Ford." The doctor said pulling out a small flashlight and shining into first his left and his right eye. "Can you tell me what you see Mr Ford."

"Nothing…"

"Nothing…?"

"Light…darkness…nothing." Nate confirmed. "What's going on?"

"We are going to have to run some tests before I can say anything definitive Mr Ford." The doctor told him.

"What do you think is going on?" Nate insisted. He could hear from the doctors' voice that he suspected something.

"You had a slight brain injury from your fall. Your brain was bruised and we don't know what could have been damaged with that."

"But you have an idea?" Nate said pushing the doctor.

"I think this may be Cornical Visual Impairment." The doctor said. "There was no damage to your optical nerve and no retinal damage that we noted when you were brought in. In addition to that your eye is reacting normally to light, in other words you are seeing the light but you are not processing the images."

"So it's neurological."

"I believe so."

"Is it permanent?" Nate asked trying to remain calm.

"On rare occasions yes." The doctor said. "But again Mr Ford we need to do some tests before we come to a firm diagnosis. I am going to order another CT and MRI scan and then we can go from there."

"If it is this…Cornical Visual Impairment what is the treatment?" Sophie asked putting her hand lightly on Nate's arm as she moved to his side again.

"There is none." The doctor said then quickly continued. "Time is the only healer of CVI, the brain needs time to recover. Mr Ford you need to rest. If it is CVI then the only thing that you can do is rest and give yourself time. I will schedule the tests for tomorrow morning, try to get some sleep alright." The doctor said. "I am going to order something to help you sleep alright. I promise you Mr Ford we are going to everything we can."

"It's going to be alright Nate…" Sophie said putting her hand on his forehead. "We'll get through this."

Nate did not answer. His mind was consumed with the fact that he may never see again. He knew his eyes were open because he could discern light and he could vaguely see movement, or at least he thought he could, he could feel Sophie's hand as she ran it thought his hair and he could hear her soothing voice telling him everything was going to be alright, but it wasn't. If he could never see again it would change everything.

A nurse came into the room a few minutes later with the medication the doctor had ordered.

"Mr Ford…I have your medication for you." She said as she leaned over him. "You are going to feel a small prick." She said as she plunged the needle into his arm and then depressed the plunger then pulled the needle out again. "That will help you sleep." She said as she used a swab to clean the area of the injection. Nate mumbled a thank you and then felt the pull of sleep almost immediately. It was obviously sedatives they had given him he thought as he sank back into unconsciousness.

"If there is anything you need just push the call button." The nurse said turning to Sophie. "He will be out until morning. Maybe you all would like to go home and come back in the morning, we will take good care of him." She said. She could see the exhaustion on the older woman's face.

"Thank you." Sophie said smiling at the nurse. The nurse smiled back and then left them alone.

"I think that is a very good idea." Eliot said. "We need to rest, tomorrow is going to be a hard day for all of us and Nate is going to need us to be fresh."

Sophie started at the Hitter and wanted to tell him that there was no way she was leaving Nate alone here, but he was right. Nate was going to need them tomorrow, more than he ever had. It was not going to do them any good to sit here all night, Nate was going to be out for the rest of the night and they had to get some rest. Sophie nodded much to Eliot's surprise. She stood up and kissed Nate lightly telling him they would all be back in the morning and that she loved him. They then all said their goodbyes and left for Nate and Sophie's house, stopping along the way to pick up some food. Entering the house Sophie immediately poured herself a drink, downing it immediately before pouring another and then sank down onto the sofa.

Eliot handed out the Chinese and then also took a seat.

"You need to eat Sophie." Eliot said as he saw the Grifter put hers aside. "Nate is going to need us and we need to look after ourselves so that we can be there for him."

Sophie glared at the Hitter and then sighed heavily picking up her food and picking at it. They ate their meal in silence, all of them contemplating what was going to happen tomorrow. Once they were done Sophie rose and bid them all goodnight and headed for her room. Once inside she fell onto the bed and started to sob letting all of the emotions of the day flow out of her.

**What will the diagnosis for Nate be? How is he going to deal with not being able to see, along with his immobility of the moment? How is the team going to deal with it? Thank you all for the great reviews they are always so appreciated. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was early the next morning when the four of them made their appearance at the Hospital. Nate was still asleep when they arrived.

"How is he?" Sophie asked as the nurse did her morning checks.

"Fine, he slept thought the night with no problems. The doctor has ordered some tests and he will be going down for CT and MRI scan. I am sure that he will be in talk to you after that."

"Thank you…" Sophie smiled at her. Then moved to Nate's side and pressed a kiss to his forehead. At her touch he felt him stir.

"Sophie…?" Nate mumbled his eyes still closed.

"Yes darling. I am here." Sophie said softly.

Nate opened his eyes. He started to panic as he saw nothing even though he knew his eyes were open.

"Shhh…Nate it's ok." Sophie said placing her hand gently on his face. "It's ok Nate."

Nate tried to calm down but he felt trapped, he could not move and he could not see. He could hear Sophie's soothing voice telling him everything was ok, but it couldn't be, something was very wrong.

"Sophie I can't move…I can't see…What's going on…?" He asked and she could hear the fear in his voice.

"You had a fall Nate, you broke your leg and your wrist and dislocated your shoulder, that is why you can't move. You also had a hit to the head which bruised your brain that is why you can't see." Sophie told him running her hand through his hair. "Don't you remember anything?" She asked then saw him nod his head slightly as he recalled the previous days' happenings and relaxed slightly. "It's going to be alright Nate. The doctor has ordered some tests and he said that your blindness is probably not permanent."

"Probably…" Nate said softly.

"Good morning Mr Ford…" the Doctor said as he entered the room. "The nurse is going to take you down to Radiology for a CT and MRI scan. We will be able to talk after that and decide where to go from there." The doctor said nodding to the nurse and others that had entered with him. They detached Nate from the monitors he was hooked up to and pushed his bed out the room. "You can all wait here, the tests should be done within the hour." The doctor told Sophie and the others then followed Nate out.

An hour later Nate was wheeled back into his room to a waiting Sophie, the others had gone to get them some coffee and breakfast.

"Nate…how do you feel?" Sophie said as the nurses reconnected the monitors and then left them alone.

"Fine…" Nate replied.

"Nate…"

"What do you want me to say, I am confined to a bed, I have some considerable pain and add to that I am blind. How do I feel…" Nate said and the despondency in his tone broke her heart.

"Nate…" Sophie said her voice soft and full of emotion. "You could be dead."

Nate did not respond. The look on his face was one of horror and fear. Sophie took his face in her hands.

"Nate…what is it? What's wrong…" She asked.

Still Nate did not respond but she could see his face contort and she could hear the soft whispering of _'no…no...no…Sam…' _coming from him and she could feel him try to pull away and the he shut his eyes as if to block something out.

"Nate…Nate…please what's wrong…?" Sophie asked now getting frightened.

Nate kept his eyes clenched shut and she could feel the tension in him. She ran her hand through his hair and tried to sooth him, she did not know what was wrong but something was.

"Sophie…what's wrong?" Eliot asked as soon as the three of them walked back into the room.

"I don't know…get the doctor." Sophie said still trying to sooth Nate who was now sweating and shaking uncontrollably.

Then Nate seemed to relax, sinking back into the bed. He still had his eyes clenched shut but he had stopped shaking.

"Nate…"

"I saw…I saw Sam…I saw him…I saw him die…" Nate whispered his voice shaky. "I…it was so real…"

"Mrs Ford…" the doctor said as he walked back into the room quickly and made his way to Nate's side.

"He…he had some kind of…I don't know." Sophie said watching at the doctor examined Nate, checking his eyes. "He said he saw Sam…"

"Sam?"

"His son… He died almost seven years ago." Sophie explained.

"Mr Ford?"

"It was so real. I saw him…I…it was like watching a sick movie." Nate said having recovered somewhat.

"Mr Ford. The tests have proved conclusive. You do have Cortical Visual Impairment or CVI. Now what you just experienced is a symptom of that. Your brain is playing tricks on you Mr Ford. Visual hallucination or visions is one of the symptoms along with a complete loss of visual sensation and of vision itself, as you have experienced. You will also preserve the ability to see light and some movement but no static objects. You will have a lack of visual fixation and tracking. Your eyes are not damaged but the signal from them to your brain has been interrupted. You are not able to process the visual stimuli and that is what is causing the blindness."

"So how do we fix it?" Parker asked.

"Like I said before, there is only one cure for this, time. The brain needs time to heal. The best way to help yourself is to rest and give yourself time."

"So I could…I could see that…again?" Nate asked and the raw fear in his voice was almost too much for Sophie to bear.

"Mr Ford, the visions, or hallucinations will come and go and there is no way to determine what hallucinations or visions might manifest themselves. It may be instances from your past, these are the visions or you may see things that don't exist, hallucinations, you may only get them infrequently or not at all there is no way of knowing."

"How long…?" Eliot asked, this was bad, really, really bad. This was going to be torture for Nate, worse than torture.

"I can't say. I'm sorry. But CVI is very rarely permanent." The doctor said. "The good news is Mr Ford, that your other injuries are healing well and I should be able to discharge you in a day or two. You will have to come back in six weeks to let the orthopedic surgeon remove the casts and check your leg. We will also need do another CT scan in a few weeks to check on the brain injury."

"Nate…" Sophie said softly. "That's good news right?"

"Yes…yes it is." Nate said but she could hear he was still shaken. "Of course it is…"

"Thank you doctor…" Sophie said turning to the doctor.

"Well, I will leave you alone now. Remember Mr Ford, time, time and rest is the only healer." He said before leaving.

"Nate, we'll get through this." Sophie told him.

"Yeah like the doc said it is not permanent. We'll get through this." Hardison added.

"Very rarely permanent..." Nate said staring sightless up at the ceiling.

Nobody said anything to that. None of them knew what to say. They were all afraid of what Nate might have to go through, of how he will cope with having to deal with it, and there was nothing they could do to spare him.

**What is going to happen if Nate has to relive his son's death again? How are the team going to be able to help him through this? **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Two days later found all of them at Nate and Sophie's house again. This time they had Nate with them. Eliot had rigged up the spare room so that he would be comfortable. He would be mostly immobile for the next few weeks and he was still very weak. He could not use either of his arms yet, the one in cast and the other still strapped tightly to his chest and obviously could not walk. He would need constant care for the first couple of weeks, including being fed and bathed, and Eliot knew that that alone was going to drive him crazy, they all knew that. Nate had not experienced another hallucination since the first one, or at least he had not told them if he had. That was another fear of Eliot's and Sophie's, that Nate would not tell them, that he would try to deal with this alone.

Nate was sleeping and the other four were seated around the table in the dining area when there was a knock on the door.

"You expecting anybody Sophie?" Eliot asked.

"No." Sophie replied.

Eliot nodded and made his way to the door. He asked who was there and receiving the answer he immediately opened the door.

"Sterling…" Eliot said surprised to see the agent again.

"Spencer." Sterling said pushing passed him into the house. "Where's Nate?"

"Sleeping…" Sophie said getting up and approaching the Interpol Agent. "What's wrong James?"

"Well you all have a serious problem." Sterling said, walking over to the wet bar and pouring himself a drink. "Somebody has taken out a hit Nate."

"What?" Parker, Hardison and Sophie said simultaneously.

"How do you know that?" Eliot asked.

"I have contacts Spencer. The hit was taken out just after Houston's body was claimed by his step brother and his partner. Now I am not saying it is his brother, but seeing as he is one of the high up lieutenants of James Le Bronc…of the crime family specializing in human trafficking, drug trafficking and murder for hire…I wouldn't rule it out though. You should really do better research on your marks Hardison…"

"Shit…" Eliot said vehemently before Hardison could rebut the Interpol Agent. "Hardison we need to secure the house and do it now. Parker, window and doors…"

"How is Nate?" Sterling asked Sophie as the others scattered to different parts of the house to make sure all the doors and windows were closed and locked and the curtains drawn. "Sophie…?"

"He had bruising to the brain…he's blind."

"Oh God I'm sorry Sophie." Sterling said. "Is it permanent?"

"We don't know. The doctor said only rarely is this type of blindness permanent. There is nothing wrong with his eyes, it's his brain that was hurt, usually when the bruising heals, the eyesight returns. There may be some after effects but…" Sophie sighed heavily. "He should recover fully…hopefully."

"Ok well that's good news…but why do I think there is more." Sterling said reading the Grifter pretty well and seeing that she was upset not just by the blindness but by something else, something more sever.

"He's…one of the things about this CVI is he gets…visual hallucinations or visions." Sophie told him.

"What type of hallucinations…visions or whatever are we talking about?"

"He…he see's reruns of his life…or…well the doctor said it could be anything and he has only had one so far." Sophie said pouring herself another glass of wine. "He…he relived Sam's…he watched him die again."

Sterling just stared at her. Nate had worked so hard to get over Sam, to start a new life with these people, with Sophie. He did not approve of the way Nate's life had gone, but these people had also helped him, on more than one occasion, and he could not forget that they were the reason he had his little girl back, so he owed them a debt he could never repay, no matter what he said. Now when Nate had finally found some peace in his life this happens. He knew Nate very well and he knew what this was going to do to him if he constantly had to revisit Sam's death.

"Add to that he can't do anything for himself at the moment…"

"He must love that." Sterling said sarcastically. Sophie smiled at him and nodded.

"Thank you, for before and for coming to warn us now, for looking out for us, for Nate." Sophie said.

"Like you said Sophie, I owe him." Sterling replied.

"Ok all doors and windows secure all curtains closed." Parker said coming back into the room.

"Perimeter secure and all camera's working." Hardison said looking up from his computer as Eliot returned from checking the upstairs.

"Good…at least we know he is secure here." Eliot said as he returned from upstairs where he had also made sure everything was tightly locked up.

"And we don't have to worry about him running off on his own somewhere." Sophie said. Nate had a tendency to do that, especially if he thought they were in danger.

"Hardison you got anything else?" Eliot asked.

"Yeah, Sterling is right there is a hit out on Nate. One Million Dollars…"

"Wow…" Parker said.

"That's going to generate a lot of interest." Eliot said concern in his voice. He knew a lot of the Hitters out there. It was his world at one stage and keeping Nate safe was not going to be an easy task.

"He's completely vulnerable." Sophie said.

"He has us." Parker replied. "We won't let anybody near him."

"I can stay." Sterling said unexpectedly and when he saw Eliot look at him with skepticism he smiled at the Hitter. "I just finished up a case and if I could get one of Le Bronc's men on a murder for hire charge, he might flip and…well it won't be bad for my reputation, or my career." He added brining a scowl to the Hitter's face.

"I thought you were on the painting police squad." Parker said.

That brought a scowl to Sterling's face. "I…diversify…whatever…"

"Is good for his career he will do." Hardison added for him.

Sterling did not reply just raised his glass to the Hacker and sipped his drink.

"Thank you James…" Sophie said grateful to the man for his offer. Not that she thought Eliot and the others needed Sterling to help them, but Sterling was a close friend of Nate who had lived through the first traumatic time in Nate's life and maybe he could help Nate get through this too, especially if he was going to have to relive it again. "I think we can use all the help we can get."

Eliot looked at Sophie surprised by her acceptance and momentarily angry with the thought that she thought he could not protect Nate, then he realized she wanted Sterling there for other reasons. If she thought it would help Nate for him to be there then he was willing to put up with the man.

"The thing is, keeping Nate safe is not going to be possible, not forever. As long as the hit is still out there, they will keep coming." Eliot said moving on.

"So what do we do?" Hardison said.

"We have to get Bryan Jackson…the brother, to call it off." Sterling said.

"And how do you propose to do that?" Eliot asked.

"Well I don't know Eliot, but you know as well as I do that sometime, not matter how well you protect him, no matter how safe you think he is, if the hit is still valid, somebody is going to try to collect and somebody will succeed." Sterling said facing off with the Hitter.

"Ok…ok, let's concentrate on the brother. What do we know about him?" Sophie said before the two men could take it any further. "How sure are we that it is him that put the hit out?"

"It's a good bet. It would appear that he and his brother were close, they worked together on a few projects... Again Hardison, I would have thought this would have come up previously." Sterling said looking at the Hacker.

"I'll check out the brother and Le Bronc…and try and trace the origin of the hit." Hardison said not taking the bait, he moved off to the study where he had set up his systems. He wanted to argue with Sterling but he knew the man was right. He should have picked up Houston's connection with Bryan Jackson.

"I'm going to check on Nate." Sophie said. "Eliot we are going to need some supplies, I don't think we have enough to feed all of us for any amount of time."

"Ok…I'll check it out and then go shopping." Eliot replied.

"I'll stay here and keep an eye out." Sterling said sitting down on the sofa and smiling sardonically up at Eliot. Eliot growled slightly and then went to the kitchen to check what they were going to need for the next while.

**How is Nate going to handle knowing that his family are in danger because there is a hit out on him and he can't do anything to help them? Will he have another hallucination / vision? How will the Hitter's come after Nate and will the team and Sterling be able to protect him? Thanks again for the reviews they keep me inspired to write.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sophie quietly moved into Nate's room. She didn't want to wake him if he was still sleeping. Standing at the door she heard a muffled sob and quickly moved forward. Nate was lying staring up at nothing, his face wet with tears and his face a picture of pure agony.

"Oh Nate…" She said tears in her own eyes as she sat on the bed beside him. She reached out and took his hand squeezing it gently. "I'm here Nate…I'm here for you." She said softly.

Nate was lost, he stood before the door of the ICU watching as the son he loved more than anything died. He knew it was just an hallucination, that it was not happening, that is only his brain playing tricks on him. But it seemed real, the emotions that it elicited were real. The pain it carried with it was real. He could hear Sophie's voice but he could not pull himself away from the scene playing out in his mind. He felt her light touch as she took his hand squeezing it and he wanted to turn away from the images he was seeing but he couldn't. What seemed like hours which were in actual fact only minutes passed when the images faded and he was left emotionally drained and full of dread.

"Nate talk to me…" Sophie said after five minutes of just sitting with him. She could tell that the images had faded, only because Nate had relaxed slightly, he was still in emotional turmoil but his body was not tensed up as he had been when she entered the room. "Nate…"

"I…I can't…can't do this…" Nate said his voice hitching with emotion. "It's…it's fine when it's something else…you or…or Maggie or…but I can't…I can't do this." Nate said.

"Yes you can Nate…" Sophie said her heart clenching. "You can, I'll help you, we will all help you. We will get through this…But you've got to talk to me…how many have you had now?"

"Sophie…I, just the two of…Sam, a few of other things…sometimes I just see people, see Sam or Maggie or you or people from my past, but when it's…it's that…I can't…"

"Nate you can do this…it won't be forever, you can get through this…"

"You don't have to get through anything Sophie…you don't have to live this over and over…you don't…you don't know…"

"No I don't…" Sophie said wiping away his tears gently. "But I do love you Nate, and I want to help you."

"You can't." Nate said more harshly then he intended to.

Sophie drew in a deep breath and then finished wiping Nate's face. "I…I'm going to go get you some lunch and something to drink."

"I'm not hungry and you can bring me a scotch."

"Nate…"

"Sorry Sophie I…sorry." Nate said softly.

"It's ok. I'll be back shortly. Is there anything else you need?"

"No."

"I love you Nate…" She said leaning over and placing a kiss on his lips. "Don't ever forget that." She said running her hand down his cheek. Then she turned and left. As she left the room she stopped leaning against the wall and taking deep breaths as tears gathered in her eyes.

"Sophie…" Parker said seeing her and quickly coming to her side.

"It's ok Parker…" Sophie said standing upright and wiping her eyes. "It's just…he had another one."

"Oh…" Parker said pouting slightly as she looked at the entrance to the room.

"I'm going to get him some food and something to drink, he needs to take his medicines. Want to help?" Parker smiled at the Grifter and nodded putting her hand through the woman's arm and walking with her to the kitchen.

"Hello Nate…" Sterling said as he walked through Nate's door.

"Sterling…?" Nate said surprise showing in his voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh you know just passing through." Sterling said moving to the side of Nate's bed. "You don't look so good."

"Thanks." Nate said dryly.

"So how you feeling…?"

"I've been better." Nate said. "What are you really doing here Jim?"

"Somebody put a hit out on you." Sterling said matter-of-factly. "I thought you should know."

"Who…?" Nate said showing no outward reaction to the statement.

"That we don't know. I personally think it is a guy called Bryan Jackson, he's the step brother of the man you took a dive with."

"Connected?"

"Very."

"What's the price?"

"One million…"

Nate whistled softly. That was a lot of money and it was going to bring in a lot of interest. That means they would be coming for him and that meant that Sophie and the others might get in the line of fire. This was just getting better and better. He was stuck here, in this damn bed unable to move, unable to do any damn thing, he was blind and now he was responsible for putting all of them in danger.

"Ok lunch is up…" Sophie said coming into the room and interrupting the two men.

"Well I will leave you two to it then." Sterling said knowing Nate would not want anybody watching him being fed. He left the room closing the door behind him giving Nate and Sophie some privacy.

"I told you I'm not hungry Sophie." Nate said.

"You have to eat." Sophie said pulling a chair next to the bed. "It's just a sandwich."

"Sophie…"

"No arguments Nate. Now open up." She said holding the sandwich in front of his mouth.

Nate did as he was told and much to his humiliation he let her feed him until he was finished. After that he let her give him his medication and he washed it down with water that she let him drink through a straw. All through the process Sophie could tell that Nate was uncomfortable and unhappy with the fact that she had to do this for him.

"Nate…please don't…I want to help you."

"I know it's just…I don't like being helpless." Nate replied.

"Well…maybe I like feeding you...looking after you…" Sophie said softly leaning forward and kissing him gently.

"I bet you do…" Nate smirked. "I love you Sophie." Nate whispered between the kisses she was laying on him.

"I love you too Nate and we will get through this. No matter what…happens."

Nate wished he could put his arms around her and hold on to her, to look into her eyes and tell her how much she meant to him, how much he needed her, how much he loved her. He was afraid. Of what was to come, of the people who would come after him. He felt vulnerable, he hated that feeling, but more than anything he felt fear. He was afraid of another vision, of another hallucination, he was afraid that nothing would ever be the same again. If this blindness stayed, if he could never see again…if he was, if these visions were forever to haunt him, he was not sure he could endure that, he knew he would not be able to endure it. He had the feeling that his life was changing again, that he was losing everything again, and this time he was not sure he had the strength to get through it, even with Sophie and the others at his side.

"Ok mister you need to rest. The medication should kick in soon and like the doctor said, time and rest is what you need most." Interrupting his thoughts.

"Stay with me…" He whispered.

"I'll never leave you Nate…I'll always be here…always, no matter what." She whispered in return running her hand through his hair as she sat down on the chair beside him. She stayed with him until he had drifted off to sleep again and then leaned in a placed a kiss on his forehead. "I love you Nathan Ford and we will get through this, just don't give up on me…I promise we will get through it." She said before turning and quietly leaving the room.

**Thank you all so very much for the great reviews. I am so glad you are all enjoying the story. So will Sophie be able to help Nate through? How long will his CVI last? Will the hit men come after him in his home?**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Three days passed without incident. Nate was healing well and now had the limited use of his one arm so he was not completely reliant on Sophie and the others for everything. All of them remained on high alert though waiting for somebody to make a move on Nate. Sophie had no idea if Nate had experienced any further visions, he did not speak about them and she had not been with him when one had happened, at least as far as she knew, Nate had schooled his emotions, shutting himself off from all of them, retreating into a world of his own. He barely spoke to any of them including Sophie and she knew he was growing more and more morbid over his situation.

The morning of the fourth day found them gathered around the breakfast table. Nate was still sleeping, Sophie had checked on him before making her way through to the dining area. Eliot had prepared them breakfast and was busy serving when the calmness of the morning was shattered by the sound of rapid gunfire. Sterling pulled Sophie down shielding her and Hardison did the same with Parker. Eliot sank low but ran towards Nate's room ducking as bullets flew through the door and embedded in the wall opposite. Then, as quickly as the gunfire had started, it stopped and silence filled the house again.

"Nate…" Sophie called and pulled herself away from Sterling headed for his room.

She entered to find Eliot kneeling beside the Mastermind who was lying on the floor.

"Nate…" She gasped and quickly joined Eliot beside the Mastermind.

"Sophie…Sophie are you alright…" Nate asked anxiously.

"I'm fine…" Sophie said putting her hands on his face and quickly running her eyes over his body. "Are you hurt?"

"No…Just a little sore…took a slight tumble…" He smiled trying to set her mind at ease. "I must stop doing that."

"He rolled off the bed when the shots started." Eliot said looking up at the bed the Mastermind had been sleeping in. "Good thing too." He looked at the bed which was now full of bullet holes, if Nate had still been in it he would have been dead.

"They targeted this room. They knew this is where Nate was." Sterling said.

"Not difficult. All you need is an infrared heat detector and could figure it out easily enough." Eliot said looking at Sterling. He cursed himself for not thinking of that earlier. Nate should have been moved to a room with no windows, no access whatsoever.

"Ok well Hardison, Eliot help me up will you." Nate interrupted his thoughts. The two men moved to his side and Eliot threw Nate's good arm over his shoulder as he lifted the man up. Hardison steadied him from the other side being careful not to injure his shoulder again.

"Nate you should not be putting weight on your leg." Sophie said as Eliot got the Mastermind into a standing position.

"Relax Sophie…" Nate said wincing slightly as his foot hit the ground. "I'm fine." He said keeping his leg suspended as best as he could.

Eliot bent down and lifted Nate into his arms easily despite the man's protests and carried him through to the living room before placing him gently on the sofa. Sophie moved in and settled the Mastermind resting his leg on a cushion and putting some cushions behind him to prop him up comfortably. Nate scowled at the need to be taken care of like a baby but said nothing.

"So what now…?" Hardison asked after Nate was settled.

"Now we get Nate out of here and to somewhere more secure." Eliot replied. "This was only the first attempt…you can be sure with a million bucks on his head that there will be more."

"I can get him to an Interpol safe house." Sterling offered.

"There is a slight problem guys…" Nate said interrupting them. "You can take me wherever you want to but they will keep coming. Like you said a million bucks is a lot of incentive."

"So what do you suggest?" Sterling asked carefully watching the Mastermind.

"Look, this is not one guy we are dealing with. If one fails another will try. Until we get to the source, to this Bryan and get him to lift the hit they will just keep coming, you all know that."

"Again Nate…" Sterling said emphasizing the man's name as he did when he was irritated by him. "What do you suggest?"

"Well he wants me…" Nate said looking at his friend with a wry smile.

"So we give you to him?" Sterling said lifting his eyebrow. He could tell by Nate's face that he had a plan and he could also tell he was not going to like it and nor were the other especially Sophie.

"Are you serious Sterling?" Sophie said. "We are not even going to contemplate this."

"Sophie just listen to me...This Bryan Jackson is a business man. He wants me dead and I bet he wants his money too." Nate said. "So we can give him the opportunity to get both."

"And just how do we do that?" Parker asked.

"Well Parker, I contact him and offer to make a deal to get him to take the hit off. I offer him his brother's money that we took from him…on the condition he withdraws the hit."

"He'll kill you the moment he sees you." Hardison said shaking his head not liking the whole thing.

"No he won't he will try to get the money first, I can get him to agree to that I'm sure." Nate replied. "I get him to talk about the scam he and his brother were running, Hardison you wire me up so it's all on tape and Sterling arrests him."

"Nate are you forgetting that you are blind. That you can't walk, that…that…if anything happens, anything goes wrong then you won't be able to…" Sophie took a deep breath. "You can't believe I would let you do this."

"Sophie I am not forgetting anything and I am going to do this because it is the only way to end this whole thing. Now I made a mistake with the con. I underestimated Houston and I did not make sure we were covered from all directions. I rushed us into this con, putting us all in danger in the first place. Now this is the only way to fix it and either you are going to help or you can just stay out of it." Nate said hearing Sophie's sharp intake of breath at his harsh words and immediately feeling a little guilty about them.

"Nate I…it was my bad man, I should have picked up the link with this Jackson guy…" Hardison said apologetically.

"No. I was reckless. I did not think about anything but taking this guy down because of what he was doing. I allowed myself to…" Nate took a deep breath. "I messed up. I got us into this mess and I am going to get us out."

Sophie stared at him her eyes filling with tears of anger and fear. She recalled hearing those words before, when they were standing on the deck of a ship and he was telling them to leave him behind. He was wounded then too, although none of them knew it. From his perspective this was a win-win plan. If Bryan killed him it would be over and they would be safe. If he succeeded and Sterling arrested Bryan and got him off the streets then it would be over. From her perspective it was a fifty percent chance that he was going to get himself killed, higher actually if you took his condition into consideration.

"Hardison I need a number for Bryan." Nate said. "Sterling I need a drink."

"Nate you can't do this. You can't ask us to let you do this. I will not allow you to do this." Sophie said.

"Sophie as much as I hate to say it, I agree with Nate. We can't keep him safe forever and if this is going to end it has to end with Bryan one way or another." Sterling said walking back to the group after pouring himself and Nate a drink. He smiled slightly as Eliot gave him a look of death as he put Nate's drink into his hand and then sat down opposite him.

"So…" Eliot said speaking up for the first time. "What is the plan?" His words brought a fierce look from Sophie who could not believe Eliot was going to allow Nate to do this.

"Simple…" Nate said taking a sip of his drink. "We call him, we set up a meet and then this ends one way or another."

"I have a number…" Hardison said rejoining the group again and trying to ignore the glares he was getting from Sophie.

"Well thank you Hardison." Nate said holding out his empty glass in the air. Parker stared at him and then took it. "Now Hardison if you would be so kind as to dial the number we can get the ball rolling."

Sophie stepped forward and grabbed the phone from the Hacker. She was not going to allow this madness.

"I will call him and I will go to the meet." She said.

"He wants me Sophie." Nate said softly.

"Well he can't have you." Sophie said firmly. "He wants the money…I can give that to him."

"No…" Eliot said quietly. "I will go."

"Enough." Nate said loudly. "I am going."

"You can't…you can't even walk damn you, you are still recovering from a fall that nearly cost you your life and let's not forget you are blind. You will be giving yourself up to the man to be killed…or is that what you want?" Sophie shouted at him. "I…will…not…allow…it."

"Sophie listen to me." Nate said turning his head towards where the sound of her voice was coming from. "You can go…any one of you can go but it is not going to solve the problem. Yes he wants his money and he will play along to get it. He could even call off the hit…for the mean time. But if you don't give him the money he will kill you, he will focus on all of you as well as me. If you do, then he will take it and I promise you he will reactivate the hit, maybe including all of you into the equation and that will put us right back here. He wants ME Sophie, he wants vengeance. He will not be able to resist the opportunity to get both." Nate said pausing for breath. "Now I have no desire to die and I trust all of you to not allow that to happen, but the only way to end this is by following my plan."

"Your plan is going to get you killed." Sophie said her voice softer and full of emotion.

"I won't allow that to happen Sophie." Eliot said softly. "I will be going with Nate to the meet. Parker will be there, so will Sterling. Hardison will have the place covered."

"We go to a place of my choosing which we can scope out beforehand. Sophie, we will be as safe as possible." Nate continued.

"That's right, and I will have a few of my agents along for the arrest." Sterling added.

Sophie stared at all of them in turn and then settled her eyes back on Nate. He was going to do this and they were going to let him. She had no option but to go along. She sighed heavily and handed the phone back to Hardison.

"Fine…but if you get yourself killed Nathan Ford, I will never forgive you…I will never forgive any one of you …" She said then moved off to get herself a drink, she really needed it she thought, then she returned and sat down to watch as Nate made the call.

"Hardison…dial the number…" Nate instructed. He could feel her eyes on him, boring into him and he could feel her fear and anger, but he knew this was the only way. Hardison dialed the number and waited for it to start ringing before putting the phone into Nate's hand.

"Here we go…" Nate said under his breath as he lifted the phone to his ear.

**A bit of a cliff hanger…**** So will Nate's plan work? What about his condition…will that come into play? Thank you all for the reviews they are as always greatly appreciated.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Sophie, despite herself had to admire the way Nate manipulated Bryan Jackson into calling off the hit and agreeing to a meeting with him. At the beginning of the conversation she was sure the man was not going to agree, it seemed all he wanted was Nate to pay for his step brothers' death but Nate somehow convinced him otherwise. Of course it helped that Nate intimated that he could have both, and the pleasure of killing him himself to boot. The thought appealed and Bryan agreed to Nate's terms in the end.

"Ok guys we are going to need a few things. Hardison you need to secure the area of the meet, cameras and gadgets, the usual. Sterling, you can get a team out there?"

"Done…" Sterling said as he pulled out his phone to start making the arrangements.

"Eliot, we are going to need a wheelchair for me, I don't think I am going to manage walking." Nate instructed the Hitter.

"I don't like this Nate. You have put the idea into his head that he could get his money and get his revenge on you at the same time."

"Well yes Sophie. He want's revenge…so I gave him an alternative to the hit. Isn't that what we agreed we'd do?"

"No Nate, I agreed to none of this." Sophie replied. Nate sighed heavily and took a sip of the drink Sterling had supplied to him. That was another thing she was not happy about, Nate drinking, especially now. She said nothing though as she watched the others get to work.

"How do we know if the hit has been called off?" Parker asked.

"Well that is why the meet is only going to take place in three days, to give him time to do that and to make sure that the message is out before we go anywhere. Hardison will monitor and make sure it is called off." Nate explained.

An hour later Hardison, Eliot and Parker were ready to leave. They had to get to the site of the meet and set up the surveillance and Eliot needed to procure a wheelchair for Nate to use.

"Sterling…"

"Don't worry Spencer I'll make sure they are still here when you get back." Sterling told him. Eliot just growled and then he and the other three left.

Sterling watched them leave and then looked from Nate who still lay on the Sofa sipping his latest glass of whiskey to Sophie who stood at the foot of the sofa watching him. He shook his head slightly to turned to Sophie.

"I'm going to go and check the house, make sure everything is still locked up tight. Neither one of the two answered him, and so he nodded to Sophie and then left to do his sweep leaving the two of them alone.

"Nate…"

"Sophie please, you know this is the only way."

"No it's not. You could let Eliot deal with this." Sophie said sitting down beside Nate. "But it's your way isn't it. You can't do this Nate. What if you get an…what if you have a…"

Nate sighed heavily reaching for her. She grabbed his hand and wrapped hers around it.

"Sophie. The only way Eliot could deal with this is to kill Bryan and I can't let him do that." Nate said softly. "I don't know what is going to happen, but I trust them to get me out of it. I know you trust them too."

"I do but…but you are not in any condition to do this. I don't care what you say. If something happens, if something goes wrong…"

"Sophie…" Nate said pulling her forward until her face was right in front of his and then lifting his hand to her face. He could feel the wetness on her cheeks and wiped his thumb over them drying the stray tears that she was trying so desperately to keep at bay. "Nothing is going to go wrong…" He said softly. "And if it does…well I have Eliot and Parker and Hardison and Sterling to get me out of there. And I have you…" He said lifting his head up slightly searching for her lips. She bent down and placed hers on his. "I love you Sophie and I am not in any hurry to leave you…" He said before kissing her again.

"I love you too Nate…even though you are a stubborn, insufferable…bloody fool." She said leaning in again placing a kiss on his forehead and wrapping her arms around him. "Just promise me…promise me that you will try to be careful. Let Eliot look after you and don't pull your normal stupid stunt of making yourself the target."

"I never make myself the target Sophie…" Nate smiled. "I always duck…"

"Don't even start Nate…"

"Ok…I won't and I won't pretend that something might not go wrong, that is why I am asking you…" He said lying back again. "I need to know you will stay in the van with Hardison."

"Nate…"

"Not negotiable Sophie. You know there is nothing you could do if something did go wrong and I don't want Eliot distracted from getting me out of there in one piece..." He said. "Promise me…"

"I promise." Sophie said softly running her hand down his cheek. "Now if you are going to go off playing hero, you need to rest and eat and take your medicines…" Sophie said getting up. "You need to be as strong and alert as possible and we only have three days."

"That's my girl…bossy as always…" Nate smiled.

The next days were spent in preparation for the meet. Hardison had confirmed that the hit had been called off. Of Course that did not mean it had got through to all the hitters out there so Nate was moved into his little office which had not windows and no access except through the door. He spent most of the time sleeping with Sophie making sure he took his medicines and got some food into his system. She noticed he had some episodes but he did not talk about them and she did not push him to.

It was the morning of the meet and Sterling had gone ahead to organize his team and so had Sophie, Hardison and Parker. They would make sure that the site was covered and that there were no surprises for Eliot and Nate when they arrived.

"Eliot…" Nate said as they drove towards the meeting place. "I need you to promise me that Sophie, Parker and Hardison make it out of here in one piece. If it comes down to them or me…"

"Nate…"

"Eliot I want your word." Nate said stopping the Hitter from saying anything.

"You have it." Eliot growled out between clenched teeth.

"Good." Nate said and settled back into his seat while Eliot drove on in silence.

The arrived at the meet to find Bryan was not there yet. Eliot helped Nate out of the car and into his chair and then they waited. They did not have to wait long before a car pulled up. Five men climbed out and walked towards them. A tall, well-dressed young man was leading them and Eliot surmised this was Bryan Jackson. He quickly noted that all of them were armed, each of them carrying at least one concealed gun on them.

"Mr Ford…" Bryan Jackson said looking at Nate and noting the man was completely incapacitated with his one arm in a cast and his leg stretched out in front of him in a cast. He also noticed that Nate did not look directed at him until he spoke.

"Mr Jackson…" Nate said looking towards the area the man's voice had come from.

**Ok another cliff hanger…I will try not to keep you hanging for too long. Thanks for all the reviews they are as always very very greatly appreciated.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Where is my money?" Bryan said coming straight to the point.

"Ready to be transferred..." Nate replied. "I just need to make sure that you will not reinstate that hit once we have finished with the transaction."

"Are you doubting my word…?"

"Oh no…no of course not…but I like to be…sure of things, especially when it comes to me staying alive."

"Well you only have my word. Now if that is not good enough for you perhaps I'll just…" He nodded and his men all drew their guns. "End this now..."

Eliot tensed but made no move. Trying anything would only get him and Nate killed, Bryan's men had them well covered. He stood and waited for Nate to make the next move hoping that the man had a plan for this too.

"Well hold on now…" Nate said softly. "No need to get over excited. I just need to know I am going to get what I am paying for.

"You are not paying for anything Ford. The money is mine. Now I am getting impatient, make the transfer."

"I don't think so." Nate said smiling at the man. "You know running a scam on sick and dying children…now that just isn't very nice."

"Nate what the hell are you doing…?" Eliot said out of the side of his mouth.

"What do you think Le Bronc will think about your side job with your step brother…" Nate continued ignoring the Hitter. "A job he knew nothing about? A very lucrative job at that…"

"What makes you think he doesn't know?" Bryan said but Nate could hear in his tone that he had hit a nerve. He also knew the man was close to breaking. He needed the man to concentrate his rage on him and forget about Eliot so that when things started to happen, Eliot would have the time he needed to do what he had to in order to keep himself alive. Nate knew before they came here that Bryan wanted him dead and no amount of money was going to change that. He figured if he could control the environment then he would be the only casualty and that was his plan, plain and simple.

"A guess…" Nate said honestly. "But one you just confirmed. Now if you cannot offer me some form of comfort that you will not try to have me killed again maybe I should go and tell your boss about your little side job…I'm sure he is a reasonable guy and if I offer him the money…well he would be most grateful and maybe he would even through in getting rid of you too boot…"

Eliot held his breath. What the hell was Nate doing…he was asking for trouble. Eliot could see the anger flash in Bryan's eye and tensed ready for action.

"So shall we deal…?" Nate asked. "Or are you as stupid as your brother…"

"I think I'll just kill you now." Bryan said raising his gun and pulling the trigger catching everybody unaware.

He had pulled the trigger three times before Eliot was on him. The third one was thrown off target but still found its mark.

"Nate…" Sophie screamed out as a horrified trio watched Nate get thrown backward with the force of the bullets that struck him. Parker scrambled to the front of the van slamming her foot down on the accelerator.

Sterling's men appeared from their concealed places and for a few minutes it was pure mayhem. Eliot could hear Sophie screaming out Nate's name and telling him they were coming for him. Within a few minutes though it was over, Bryan lay unconscious on the ground and the three men he brought with him were in custody. Eliot turned towards the Mastermind who was lying face down on the ground. Just as he ran towards him the van pulled up with Sophie jumping out before it had come to a stop stumbling forward and reaching Nate seconds after Eliot dropped to his knees beside the man.

"Nate…" Eliot called softly as he rolled him gently over. He looked down at the man and saw the three bullet holes in his chest. He ran his eyes over the rest of the Mastermind and noted the slight trickle of blood from Nate's head where the third bullet had grazed him after Eliot had thrown the bullet off course. There did not appear to be any other damage to him but he was unconscious.

"Eliot…" Sophie said her eyes fixed on the two holes in Nate's chest.

"It's ok Sophie…" Eliot said ripping open Nate's shirt to reveal the bullet proof vest he had forced the man to wear before they left for the meeting. "He's going to be a bit sore and bruised but otherwise alright. He took a graze to the head though…let's get him in the van and back home."

Eliot lifted Nate up and carried the unconscious man to the van laying him out in the back. Sophie climbed in and sat beside him resting his head on her lap. Eliot instructed Hardison to get Nate back to the brewery, he thought it would be better than taking him back to the house, they could definitely protect him better there and until he was absolutely sure there was no more danger for Nate he was going to act as if there still was. Eliot watched as they left then turned back to his car which Nate and him had taken to get to the meet. Sterling met him at the car.

"He alright…?" Sterling asked.

"Fine…a graze to the head but that's all."

"Good thing he was wearing that vest."

"Yeah…"

"You know Eliot one day he is going to do something that not even you can't save him from." Sterling said looking at the Hitter earnestly.

"I hope not…" Eliot said climbing into the car and speeding off after the van. Sterling watched him go and shook his head ruefully before turning back to the scene and barked his orders to his men.

Eliot had caught up to the van before they reached the back of the brewery and was there to get the Mastermind inside and installed in one of the crash pads that Hardison had set up. Once there he did another once over on the man checking that he had not received any further damage and cleaned the wound on his head. It was not even deep enough to need stitches and he was sure that Nate would wake up soon enough. Sophie stood watching as Eliot worked on Nate.

"You knew he was going to do that didn't you?" She asked.

"No…" Eliot said looking up at the Grifter. "But he's Nate and if he thought that taking the hit would save us…"

"He would do it in the blink of an eye." Sophie finished for him. "Thank you Eliot…if you hadn't…he…"

"Hey…hey it's ok Sophie…" Eliot said as he saw tears gather in her eyes. "He's going to be fine."

"Is he?" Sophie sniffed.

"Sophie I don't know what is going to happen from here. I don't know for how long he is still going to suffer from…the episodes. But however long it is we will be here for him, all of us and we will get him through it."

"Can we? Can we get him through it? Eliot, you were there and you know he…he wanted Bryan to shoot him. He goaded him into it…"

"He had the vest on." Eliot reminded her. "The plan was…"

"The plan was to get the man to confess to things so that Sterling could arrest him…Nate didn't even try to get him to do that, he goaded him into shooting him and you know it." Sophie said.

"Sophie if he wanted that why did he agree to the vest?"

"You had to force him right…? And besides if it had been you would you have shot him in the chest?"

"Sophie…"

"No Eliot, if he had aimed for the head and not the chest Nate would be dead. If you had not insisted on that vest… Maybe…maybe that's…that's what he…" Sophie's words stumbled to a halt as he tried to get her words out.

"Sophie…" Eliot repeated again. He had thought the exact same thing though. Could it be possible that Nate was looking for death, a way out from the hell he found himself in at the moment?

"Eliot he can't live with reliving Sam's…It's killing him and he isn't talking about it, the last while he isn't even acknowledging when it happens… and he…he would never…" Sophie sniffed again. Eliot understood what she was saying. Nate would never take his own life, so maybe he had hoped that Bryan would do it for him. "I'm losing him Eliot, we're losing him…he's drinking, he's shutting down…" Sophie said softly. "He's breaking…"

"He knows it's not forever Sophie…" Eliot said pulling the woman into a hug.

"Yes…but take the worst thing that ever happened to you Eliot, something you never want to relive and imagine what it would be like when it came at you without warning…something you have to go through over and over…how long is too long?"

"We will get him though this Sophie. We will…" Eliot said softly.

Sophie nodded and stepped away from Eliot wiping her eyes. She stepped up to the bed and ran her hand over Nate's forehead and gently through his hair. They had overcome one threat but the greater one, the one that could cost them the most, that one was very real and it was something none of them knew how to fight.

"Well I guess he will be out for a while though, that was a nasty hit to the head." Eliot said looking down at the Mastermind. "Let's go get something to drink…" He said placing his hand on Sophie's shoulder. "I think we could both use one."

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for the great reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Eliot sat watching the Mastermind sleep. The day had passed without further incident after they had taken him back to the brewery. It was now three in the morning and the others were asleep. Sophie had passed out on the sofa in the front and Parker and Hardison were in their room. Eliot sat against the wall watching and waiting for the man to wake. He had been thinking about what Sophie said and the more he thought about it the more she made sense. Nate had changed the plan, changed the whole thing in order to anger Bryan into shooting him.

Eliot looked up as Nate began to stir for the first time. He watched as the Mastermind opened his eyes and then shut them again grimacing slightly, Eliot was not sure if it was from pain or from the fact that he had actually woken up. He made no move to go to Nate he sat quietly and watched as he reached out to the table beside the bed, knocking over a glass as he did.

"There is no alcohol Nate."

Nate froze at the sound of Eliot's soft voice. He pulled his hand back sighed heavily.

"I need a drink." He said.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Eliot asked ignoring the Masterminds request.

"My job…" Nate replied.

"Your job…?"

"Yes Eliot, making sure that everyone came out alive and unharmed. Making sure the plan worked..."

"No I think you are confused…" Eliot said quietly. "That is my job Nate. Keeping everybody safe and alive…that is my job. Including getting you out alive..."

"Eliot I don't want to argue the point."

"So what exactly was your plan? I thought it was to get the man talking and draw him out so that we could get Sterling to arrest him. Obviously you had other plans like getting yourself killed…"

"Eliot…"

"Nate I have watched you talk people into and out of all sorts of things…Yesterday I watched you talk a man into killing you. You knew exactly which buttons to press to make him lose control. If I had not insisted on the vest you would be dead right now, hell you almost were anyway…" Eliot said referring to the third bullet that had grazed Nate's head. "Now I don't know what is going on in that head of yours and I understand that what is happening is hard for you to deal with, but that ain't the answer."

Nate did not respond to Eliot's softly spoken words. He had a splitting headache and his whole body hurt from the fall he had taken, again. He was glad for the fact that he could not see Eliot right then because he knew what he would see on the Hitter's face. He sighed deeply and raised his hand to touch his forehead gingerly fingering the bandage that covered the gash.

"Look Nate, like I said I understand…"

"You understand nothing Eliot so don't even go there."

"Fine, I don't understand, I can't imagine what you are going through. But it won't be forever, the doc said that this, this CVI thing will pass, you just need to give yourself time and rest and so far you have done neither."

"Are you going to lecture me now Eliot…?" Nate asked smirking at the ceiling.

"No…" Eliot said standing up and moving to the man's side. "I am going to ask you to let us help you through this."

"You can't…" Nate said softly.

"We can, if you will let us." Eliot said.

Nate did not reply. He closed his eyes and turned his head away from where he felt Eliot's presence beside his bed.

"You can help me…" He said softly. "You can get me a drink."

"Nate…"

"Enough Eliot…" Nate said. Eliot wanted to argue but knew Nate well enough not to. He walked away and took his seat again and silence fell between the two men.

Time dragged past and Eliot could tell that Nate was still awake but still not a word was said. Eventually Nate drifted back to sleep and Eliot relaxed slightly. He was waiting for Nate to try to get out of bed to get to his alcohol and he was not sure what he would have done if he had. They could not keep Nate locked up, they could not keep him chained to the bed and by denying him things just emphasised his helplessness which would also not be good. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place and there was nothing they could do about it. Eliot settled back into the chair and closed his eyes, he also needed to rest, until Nate got his site back and this affliction he had was done, none of them were going to get much rest at all he thought as he drifted into what passed as sleep for him.

Three hours later Sophie moved into the room quietly trying not to wake either Nate or Eliot. Moving to Nate's side she looked down at him and smiled slightly. He looked so peaceful, she loved to watch him sleep, it was the only time he was truly relaxed. At least he was not having dreams upsetting his sleep as well, she thought to herself. She wanted to reach out and touch him but she also did not want to wake him so she settled for sitting down beside him and just being there with him. Eliot came awake a few minutes after Sophie entered and watched her for a short while before standing and moving over to her side.

"Want some coffee?" He asked.

"Thanks Eliot…" Sophie said looking up at the Hitter and smiling. "Did he wake?"

"Yeah."

"Did he say anything?"

Eliot could see Sophie tense slightly as she worried about what Nate could have said.

"No…nothing really…" Eliot told her putting his hand on her shoulder. "He is in a dark place Sophie, but like I said, he has four people who won't let him give up."

Sophie placed her hand on his and patted it gently. "Thanks Eliot…for everything."

"No problem…" Eliot said. "I'll get the coffee." He turned to leave and then turned back to her. "He wanted a drink. I didn't give it to him but we can't stop him if he wants it. If we do…well you know Nate…"

"Yeah bound to do something stupid…" Sophie said smiling sadly. She knew Eliot was right and although she hated it they would not stop him from drinking, the only thing they could do was hope to limit it slightly. She was sure that the alcohol could not be good for him, especially with a brain injury.

Eliot left and Sophie turned her attention back to Nate. She reached out and ran her hand through his hair gently then she took his hand and wrapped it in hers. Sophie did not know what was going to happen but whatever it was she would be there for him no matter what and she knew the others would too. Absentmindedly she stared down at his hand in hers. It had taken them a long time to get to the point where they could admit what they meant to each other. When he had asked her to marry him she could not remember being so happy every before. She was not willing to give any of that up without a fight. So deep in thought was she that she did not even notice when Nate's eyes opened.

"Sophie…" Nate murmured squeezing her hand gently.

"Hey…you are awake…" She said smiling at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better…" Nate said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine…" Sophie replied.

"You're lying." Nate said simply.

"What do you want me to say Nate…" Sophie asked. "After your stunt yesterday…"

"Nothing…" Nate said pulling his hand away from her. "Just forget it." He was not in the mood to discuss yesterday's events with Sophie. He already had with Eliot and that was enough. He pushed himself up in the bed slightly. Sophie quickly stood and helped him to get comfortable in a more upright position. "Thanks…"

"Hey you're up." Eliot said walking in with a cup of coffee for Sophie. "Want some coffee…?"

"Yeah…with um…"

Eliot knotted his brows but then nodded and left to get him some Irish.

"Sterling said he would be round today to tell us what is going on with Bryan and see how you are doing." Sophie told him.

"Ok…" Nate said.

"Nate please talk to me..." Sophie asked sitting forward and reaching out to him.

"There is nothing to talk about Sophie." Nate said not wanting to discuss what she thought had happened yesterday and what was maybe yet to come. "I just…I'm sorry but…"

"Nate…"

"Here's your coffee…" Eliot said walking back into the room carrying a cup of Irish for Nate and coffee for Sophie.

"Thank you." Nate said as Eliot placed the cup in his hands. He smiled slightly as he tasted the distinct taste of his favourite whiskey mixed in with the brew. He lifted his cup up in salute to the Hitter and then settled back into his bed.

"I'll give the doc a call today and see when we can get you in for another scan." Eliot told the Mastermind. "You took a nasty blow to the head, two now actually and I think it would be best to be on the safe side."

"Do you think that is necessary…?" Nate asked not relishing going back to a hospital under any circumstances.

"I think it is best." Eliot confirmed. "Besides maybe he can tell us how much longer this CVI thing is going to last."

"Fine…" Nate said taking another sip of his coffee and sank down into his bed.

"Well I'm going to get some breakfast together." Eliot said.

Once he had left Sophie reached out and touched Nate's arm drawing his attention towards her.

"I think you need some fresh clothes and a good washing." Sophie said and saw him blush in response. "Come on now Nate don't tell me you haven't fantasised about getting a rub down from me…?"

"Well…" Nate said and despite himself he smiled.

"Ok then…" Sophie said standing up. "I'll get what I need and just lock the door shall I?" She said leaning in and placing a kiss on his lips. Nate responded to the kiss deepening it and wrapping his arm around her. She smiled into the kiss and felt a tear run down her cheek. "I love you Nate…" She whispered.

"I love you to Sophie…" He responded as she pulled herself back placing one more soft kiss to the side of his mouth.

"Right…now don't move mister…" She said walking towards the bathroom.

"Oh I don't think that will be a problem…" He said lightly but she could hear the sadness and despair in his voice. "I am completely in your hands my darling…" He said and she knew he meant that in more than one way.

**Thank you all so very much for the great reviews they are so very gratefully accepted.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Sophie paced restlessly as she waited for Nate to come out from the doctors rooms, he had been in now for almost an hour and she was worried. They had been here almost the whole day with the doctor running test after test and now he was speaking to Nate. She had wanted to be in there with him but he had asked that she not be. He had wanted to talk to the doctor alone and that also scared her.

"What are they doing in there…?" Sophie muttered stopping and staring at the door.

None of her three companions answered her. All of them were wondering the same thing and all of them were apprehensive for what was happening inside the room.

"You don't think that the tests proved…that…that this…that it could be permanent…?" She asked suddenly stopping in her tracks at the thought. She felt like she couldn't breathe like the room was closing in on her.

"Hey…hey Sophie easy…" Eliot said immediately at her side leading her to a chair and sitting her down before crouching in front of her. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves ok…" He said as she took deep breaths trying to control the panic that had risen in her at the mere thought of Nate's condition being permanent.

They all settled down again and continued to anxiously wait for Nate to emerge. It took another half an hour before the door to the office opened and the doctor rolled Nate out in his wheelchair. Sophie watched both of them closely but saw nothing on either of their faces to give her an idea of what was going on.

"Mr Ford I will see you again in a week." The doctor said coming to stand in front of Nate when Eliot took over pushing the chair.

"Fine…" Nate said softly.

"Like I said Mr Ford…time and time alone…" He said. Then he turned and walked away from the group without addressing any of them much to all of their consternations, although his words to Nate gave them some indication of the situation.

"Nate…" Sophie said bending down in front of the Mastermind to look into his eyes.

"Later Sophie…" Nate said. "Take me home please." Sophie nodded and stood up her eyes welling up with tears that she was determined would not fall in front of him.

"We'll go get Lucille…" Hardison said grabbing Parker's arm and dragging her with him.

An hour later after stopping for some food they arrived back at the brewery. They all gathered around the table and waited for Nate to speak.

Nate sat sipping his whiskey which Hardison had provided not saying anything. He could feel all of their eyes on him and he knew they were expecting him to say something. The truth was he did not know what to say. The doctor had told him that his brain appeared to have almost completely healed and he was not sure why the blindness was still prevailing. All the tests had shown that there was no permanent damage. The bullet had not caused any additional damage nor had the fall he had taken when he had rolled out of the bed to avoid the attempt on his life. The doctor had explained to him that it was much like a person in a coma, there was no knowing if and when they would emerge, in a day, a week, a month, a year or never. The thought that he would have to deal with this for as long as another day never mind a year or God forbid for the rest of his life was almost killing him. He was not strong enough to deal with that and he knew it. Even with Sophie and the others to support him he knew he would not be able to deal with that. It was bad enough that he felt helpless, weak. He was heading back into the darkness and this time it was not just figuratively, but literally as well, which made his stomach turn. He downed the rest of his drink and then put the glass down on the table, a little too hard as he misjudged the distance to the surface. The sound made all of them around the table jump slightly, even Eliot…they were all on edge, all afraid of what was to come and all of them nervous at Nate's lack of response to them.

Nate cleared his throat and then swallowed hard before starting to speak.

"The doctor said that…that my brain has healed well and he does not know why the blindness…my condition continues. He doesn't know how long it is going to last and he doesn't know if it is going to be permanent or not." Nate said speaking quickly so as to get it all out as fast as possible. "So all I can do is…is carry on like…like this." He said reaching out to find the bottle he knew Hardison had put on the table.

Sophie caught his hand and stilled it lifting the bottle and topping up his glass, then, she put the glass into his hand her hand lingering on his for a few seconds trying to show her support, before she sat back and waited for him to continue. He lifted it to his lips and drank down about half the glass before continuing.

"I'm sorry but…this…" Nate took another deep breath and took another sip of his whiskey.

Sophie watched him and tears welled in her eyes again. He was more worried about them than himself. He was worried about them having to take care of him, having to deal with his blindness, his CVI, his helplessness. She shook her head slightly as tears finally spilled down her cheeks.

"I think…I think it would be best if…"

"I hope you ain't going to say what I think you are…" Hardison interrupted him.

"Don't be an idiot Hardison…" Parker said earnestly. "Nate would never think he should leave." She too knew what Nate was going to say and needing him to understand that that was just not going to happen.

"No man…Nate knows that we would never allow that." Eliot added softly keeping his eyes on the Mastermind and seeing the look of frustration and consternation and he could swear a little gratefulness on the man's face. "I'm starving so let's just eat and then we can think about this all again."

"Good idea…" Sophie said smiling at the Hitter. "So what do you want Nate…" She said going through the list of Chinese that they had bought. The other's started to open their boxes and continued on as if the tense situation did not exist.

Nate was silent, he wished he could see their faces but he couldn't. He could feel their eyes on him though and he could feel their concern, their anxiousness and their…love…for him. He smiled slightly putting his glass down, giving into them.

"Well Chicken Chow Mein would do me…" He said softly and his words started the chatter around the table as they all grabbed their food. For a brief moment it was like old times, but Nate knew it could never be like that again, not whilst he still suffered from this affliction, but, he thought, for the moment it was what they needed and maybe what he needed as well. The future…that could wait until after this meal together as a family, he missed that and it was a small reprieve from his situation that he would cherish, after that…well he had his own ideas about what he had to do, and he was sure they were not going to like it.

**So Nate is still suffering…what do you think he is planning to do? Will the team be able to stop him from doing anything stupid? Thank you for all the reviews, I love receiving your feedback.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Sophie I need you to go back to your theatre, I need them to go back to work and I want to go home." Nate said as they lay together in the early hours of the morning a week after Nate's visit to the doctor.

Sophie did not reply and lay resting her head on his chest listening to his heartbeat and running small circled with her fingers on his chest. It had been a long week. Nothing had really changed. Nate was still experiencing episodes although he did not talk about them at all, he seemed to have numbed himself, mostly with liquor which worried her terribly. She had come across him when he was lost in one of them, tears spilling from his eyes and his fist clenched. She knew the others had too. Parker walked around with an almost permanent pout, Hardison spent most of his time researching the condition and trying to find some way, any way of helping Nate. Eliot was like a watch dog, never far from Nate and always on hand when he needed something.

She knew Nate was frustrated with his situation, not only the fact that he was still experiencing the hallucinations but also with the fact that he could not look after himself. That if he needed something one of them had to get it for him, or help him to get to places. He could still not even bathe himself, simple things that they took for granted he could not do. Add to that the blindness and you had a very unhappy, depressed man who was drowning his emotional pain with alcohol.

"Nate you know you are still…you still need help." Sophie said softly. "And besides there is still the threat…"

"No there isn't. I spoke to Sterling and that is past, there is no reason for me still to be here. Now I know that I still require…assistance." Nate sighed. "But there are people we can hire to do that. I need you all to get back to your lives Sophie. My…situation…is what it is and I don't want you all stopping your lives to take care of me."

"I want to take care of you." Sophie said looking up at the Mastermind.

"I know…" He said. "I know…but I NEED to know that you are all getting on with your lives. I NEED to know that I am not…I don't want to…"

"Be a burden."

"Yes."

"You will never be a burden to me…or to them."

"Sophie…don't misunderstand please. I just…"

"I understand and we will talk to them tomorrow about it ok?"

"Ok."

Sophie snuggled closer to him draping her arm over his body.

"I love you Nate."

He did not reply and she could feel his body tense, that was not the reaction to her words she expected and her own anxiety levels rose. She was losing him, he was distancing himself not only from her but from all of them. He hardly spoke to any of them anymore. He lay in his bed and drank most of the time. Only when she insisted that he join them at the dinner table did he…he never really asked for anything, except a drink. They made sure he ate, that he bathed and that he got out of bed and moved around a little. He was sinking into a deep depression one that was fuelled not only by his emotional pain but also by the fact that he felt he was imposing on their lives, that he was becoming a burden to them, preventing them from living themselves, or that was his perception. She had no idea how to stop that from happening, she had no idea how to help him out of the depression he was falling into and it scared her. She knew the others felt the same and she also knew that none of them knew how to solve the problem. Maybe getting on with their lives would help him. They could take another job and Nate could help, he didn't need to be involved except for the planning and he didn't need his eyes or mobility to do that. It would help take his mind off things and maybe exercising his brain would also help in some way. She would discuss that with them tomorrow she thought. Eventually she drifted off into a restless sleep.

Nate lay holding Sophie. He could feel her anxiety and he knew she was worried about him, he knew all of them were. The fact was he was not sure if this was ever going to end and that scared him, not so much for himself but for what it would do to them. He could already sense the tension in the place, nobody wanted to go anywhere or get on with their lives, their time was taken up watching him, helping him and that was not good, it was not what he wanted. If this was going to be permanent then he could not allow his affliction to curtail their lives. Add to that the other thing, he shivered slightly as he thought of that, true they had been getting less and they had also changed slightly, he not only saw Sam but good things, his marriage, his time with the team and events that had happened through the years. He was not sure which was worse, Sam tore little parts of him away, breaking his heart all over again, but seeing them and knowing that he was going to change their lives and not in a good way if this blindness became permanent made his heart clench. He would not allow them to sacrifice their lives to take care of him, it was not fair. As he lay there thinking about his future and theirs he absentmindedly ran his hand through Sophie's hair. He was just not sure what to do about it though, he was completely helpless at the moment and they were smothering him, not letting him out of their sight, one of them was always with him as if they expected him to up and disappear if they left him alone. He smiled to himself at that thought. These people knew him far too well, better than anybody ever had. He would make a plan though and the first thing was to get them doing their own thing again without constantly watching over him.

"I love you too Sophie…" He whispered sadly. "More than you could ever imagine, and I love them too…I won't let you be dragged down by me, I swear it." He said before closing his eyes and joining the woman in sleep.

**A bit of a short chapter, I am sorry. Thank you for the reviews they are greatly appreciated.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The next morning found Sophie and the rest of the team sitting around the table discussing the situation with Nate. The man himself was still sleeping and Sophie had decided it was time to discuss a strategy on how they were going to work going forward.

"He wants us to carry on with our lives as if nothing has happened?" Parker asked after Sophie had told them about their discussion the night before.

"Yes Parker. He needs to know that we are going on with our lives no matter what is happening with him." She replied and seeing the look on all of their faces she continued. "Look I don't like it any more than you do, but Nate needs this. He needs to know that we are not…not dedicating our lives to service him if you know what I mean."

"I get it." Eliot said. "But we aren't and it has only been a short while. Once he is on his feet again maybe…"

"No Eliot now." Sophie said. "He wants to go home and he wants us to get on with our lives. And don't try to tell him he is here because of any kind of threat, he spoke to Sterling…" She said before Eliot could say anything about him moving back to their house. "He wants you all to take another job and he wants me to go back to the theatre. I understand and I know it is hard. We can get somebody to watch him for us, somebody we trust. You must have a few clients lined up and you can pick one that he can help you out with, one that needs more planning than physical participation. He needs to stop just lying in bed and drinking and feeling sorry for himself and worrying about us not being able to function because of his situation."

"Ok but I don't like it…" Eliot said. "I don't like it because him being alone…you know what the man is like Sophie…"

"I know." Sophie sighed deeply, she knew they all had the same fears. Leaving Nate alone with his thoughts and his fears was never a good thing, it almost always led to trouble, especially when he was not in a good place to start with. "We need somebody we can trust that will not only make sure he is comfortable and taken care of but will also…"

"Be our spy…?" Hardison said. "'Cause you know he is going to do something stupid, you just know it."

"Right…" Sophie said nodding.

"I got just the person…" Eliot smiled. "She's a nurse."

Both Hardison and Parker smirked slightly, they had seen Eliot's nurses before when he had been hurt on jobs. Sophie rolled her eyes slightly as she watched the expressions on the youngsters' faces at the Hitters statement.

"Good when can she be here?" Sophie asked.

"I'll give her a call." Eliot said. "Then I'm going to make breakfast. He is probably awake by now."

"Yes, I'll go in and check on him and give you a call when he is ready to get out of bed." She said standing up. "It's going to be hard guys but we have to show him that even if this is…permanent…that life will go on. He needs that."

They all nodded and then watched her walk away and disappear into Nate's room.

It was a little over an hour later when they were all gathered around the table and breakfast was over that the conversation turned to the future.

"I have made arrangements for you and Sophie to move back to your house." Eliot started the conversation. "I have also organised somebody to…help you."

"Good…" Nate replied. "And you are all going to go on with your lives…"

"We have a case…" Hardison told the Mastermind. "But we might need some help with it."

"Well not from me you don't."

"Nate…"

"Yes from you." Hardison said interrupting Sophie. "It's one that requires a lot of planning and that is your strong suite. Seeing as you are not going to be doing much over the next few days I thought you could help, but hey…if you don't want to…"

"It could get tricky though if it ain't planned just right." Eliot said catching on to Hardison's thinking. I mean really tricky he said implying that they could get themselves into trouble if it wasn't planned just right.

"I'm sure you can handle it." Nate said knowing what they were trying to do, not that he did not appreciate the effort, but he was not in the mood to work on any case and besides he had his own planning to do. "And Eliot, I have arranged for somebody to assist me when I get back home."

Eliot did not reply, he looked around the table and his eyes locked with Sophie. That was not a good sign.

"Well I just thought…"

"I know but it's fine, you can tell your friend they're not needed. Now when do propose to get me home?"

Eliot looked from Sophie to Nate not sure what to say next. He was not happy with this person, whoever it was that Nate had in mind. He wanted somebody he could trust, somebody who would keep them informed on Nate's condition and mental state.

"Well darling, you have to be back at the hospital tomorrow for another scan so we can go home from there." She said. That should give Hardison enough time to wire up the house and make all the arrangements necessary that they would be able to keep an eye and ear on him all the time. She did not like spying on him but he was not giving them much choice, she knew he was scheming something and she was not going to take any chances with him.

"Yeah I think that is probably the best idea." Eliot concurred.

Nate sat for a short while then finished his drink.

"Sounds good..." He finally said much to their relief. "So what are your plans for today?"

"Well I thought I would stay in with you…"

"No Sophie, you need to get to your theatre and you need to sort things out there, you have been 'staying in' with me for more than two weeks now." Nate said. "I take it you have made arrangements to meet with your new client?" He asked the others.

They all looked at each other Sophie rolling her eyes slightly.

"Look guys if this is going to work you need to start now, whether I am here or not." Nate said when he got no response from them. "So you are meeting your client today right?"

"Right…" Parker said.

"Good." Nate said. "Now I am a little tired so perhaps you could help me back to be Eliot?"

The others watched as Eliot pushed Nate back to his room and then they let out a collective breath as they disappeared into the room.

"Hardison you can get everything set up before we take him home right."

"Of course…" Hardison said. "But Sophie I am with Eliot…I don't like it."

"None of us do…" Parker told him. "But at least we can watch him."

The rest of the afternoon was spent making their arrangements for when Nate would move back home and just how they were going to keep tabs on him without making it obvious that they were. Sophie was sure that Nate was making his own plans and if the visit with the doctor did not go well, then she knew that plan would involve not only disappearing into a bottle, but from them altogether.

The visit to the doctor did not go as well as she had hoped and in the same vein as the previous one they were kept in the dark with Nate preferring to deal with the doctor and what he had to say alone. After they left the hospital they went home to his and Sophie's house. Hardison had set the place up and they were all sure that they would be able to watch him closely despite him not accepting the assistance from Eliot's friend. They found that Nate had organised one of the nurses from the hospital to stay with him during the day.

The next week went by without much happening, most nights the guys spent at Nate and Sophie's place with Eliot cooking. They tried to rope Nate into helping them with their case, talking about it constantly but he was not rising to the bait, he showed no interest at all. Sophie could feel that Nate was moving further and further away from them, not engaging in the conversation after dinner and spending the majority of his time just sitting and listening and drinking. It seemed to her he was now drinking more than he had when the team had first formed. One thing she and the others were relieved about was the fact that it did not appear that Nate was planning on leaving though, they had not observed any kind of preparations for that, but Eliot reminded them that Nate was not mobile yet, when he was, he may then just make his move. The team however worked their job and Sophie spent her days at the theatre.

Late one morning the Leverage crew were finishing off their job and Sophie had a meeting with the producer of her new play at the theatre, leaving Nate alone with his assistant.

Nate lay in bed waiting for his assistant to bring him his breakfast. He had been having some improvement in his sight, but had not told any of the others, not that he could see anything properly, but he was starting to be able to make out shapes and he could now follow movement quite well. The visit to the doctor the previous week had been disappointing, he could still not tell Nate why he had not regained his sight, the bruising on the brain had completely healed with no sign of permanent damage. He was still mostly immobile for at least the next three weeks when the casts on his leg and his arm would be able to be removed.

"Margery…" He called out when he heard clattering in the direction of the kitchen. Silence greeted him and he pushed himself up in the bed. "Margery…are you alright…?" He called out getting worried at the lack of response.

"I am afraid Margery is not available at the moment…She's taking a nap…a long nap." A deep male voice replied and Nate immediately recognised the voice.

**A bit of a twist…are any one of the others watching, will they know Nate is in trouble. Will Nate be able to help himself? Will somebody notice that there is trouble and come to his aide before it is too late? Thanks again for all of reviews, they are appreciated.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The fourth time her mobile rang she grabbed it up and answered it brusquely. She was in the middle of negotiations with her latest producer for her newest play and the last thing she needed was an interruption. She knew she should have turned the phone off but was afraid to miss a call from Nate if he should need her.

"Sophie don't hang up…" Sterling's anxious voice greeted her.

"Sterling what is going on?"

"Bryan escaped from custody. Where is Nate?" He asked getting straight to the point. "I tired Eliot and Hardison and Parker but none of them are answering."

"God…Nate's at home, our house." Sophie said digesting the information. She is not surprised that the others had not answered his call, they were in the final stages of the con.

"Right…who's with him…"

"His nurse…I am leaving now…I will get hold of Eliot." Sophie said standing up from the table without even bothering to explain herself, grabbed her bag and ran out of the theatre leaving a flabbergasted prospective producer staring after her.

Sophie sped towards her house trying to dial Nate's number and the nurses alternatively but both of them were going to voice mail immediately. She dialled Eliot's number for the third time and this time he picked up.

"Sophie…we are a bit busy here…" He said in a hushed voice.

"Eliot you have to get to the house. Bryan escaped and I can't get hold of Nate or Margery..."

"I'm on my way…" Eliot said hanging up the phone. Hardison looked at him raising his eyes in question.

"We got to go…" Was all he said and the others nodded and moved to follow him without question. They were not sure what was going on but it was obviously serious. Eliot and the others ran out of the room leaving a dumbstruck mark standing holding the fake painting they were about to sell him.

The three of them piled into Lucille and Eliot floored the accelerator telling them what Sophie had said as they sped towards the house.

"Hardison…" Eliot asked as they raced towards the house.

"I can't see him. Margery is down in the kitchen but the rest of the house seems empty." Hardison said running through the footage from the house. "Sophie just arrived…" He said watching as Sophie pulled up outside the house and ran towards the door.

Sophie ran into the house paying no attention to the fact that Bryan could be there and the danger she could be putting herself into. She immediately called out Nate's name as she entered. If she could distract Bryan, then that should buy the others some time to get to her. She also knew Sterling was on his way too. Getting no response she made directly for the bedroom where she knew Nate spent most of his days. Bursting through the door, she found it empty.

"Nate…" She called out again as she opened the bathroom door but finding it empty there too.

Sophie started to panic and quickly moved through the rest of the house but found all the rooms deserted. She knelt beside Margery and felt for a pulse, which to her relieve she found. The woman had taken a nasty blow to the head but there did not seem to be any other injury.

"Sophie…" Sterling's voice came from the front door.

"In here…" She called back.

Sterling entered the room and immediately saw Margery lying on the floor unconscious. He knelt beside her and made sure she was not in need of immediate medical aid he lifted her up and carried her out the kitchen and to the Sofa.

"Nate…" He asked as Sophie followed him.

"Not here…it…something happened in the bedroom there is blood and…"

Sterling moved quickly through to the bedroom to check on the situation. He could immediately see there was some sort of altercation had taken place and there was evidence that somebody had been injured by the puddle of blood on the floor. Sterling also noticed the blood trail leading from the kitchen to the front door. He was sure it was not Bryan that had been injured because there was no way that Nate had walked out of the house. That meant that Bryan had an injured blind and helpless Nate. Sterling cursed himself silently. He had acted as soon as they had informed him of Bryan's escape but not fast enough to save Nate.

"Sophie…" Eliot's called as he and the others came through the door.

"Eliot, he's gone…"

"Hardison we need to see the video…" He told the Hacker quite unnecessarily as he had already got to work downloading the recording.

"Ok…" Hardison said turning his laptop to face the group. "Here he comes in, takes out Margery. You can hear Nate calling out after the noise…" Hardison said describing what they were seeing and hearing on the screen. The group watched as Bryan made his way to Nate's bedroom.

"_I am afraid Margery is not available at the moment…She's taking a nap…a long nap." A deep male voice replied and Nate immediately recognised the voice. He did not reply concentrating on following the voice and trying to make out the movement. "Tch…Tch…tch…left all alone to fend for yourself." Bryan said as he moved further into the room. "Blind…helpless…so sad really."_

"_I take it you are here to kill me…so why don't you just get on with it? I don't need your commentary on it." Nate told the man._

"_In such a hurry to die…?" Bryan asked. "I don't blame you really. If my brother had survived that fall instead of you I would never leave him to fend for himself with a nurse to look after him. I would take care of him. I suppose that is the difference between family and…well whatever those people are to you." Bryan said. "Actually I am a little surprised at the state you find yourself in. I was expecting to have to take out more than just hired help to get to you…"_

Eliot growled low and Parker snorted while Sophie felt tears prick her eyes as Bryan spoke.

"_Lucky you…" Nate said not reacting in any way to Bryan's words. He reached out to his side and grabbed the bottle of whiskey that stood at his bedside. "Can I offer you a drink?" He asked drawing a frown to Bryan's face. He could not understand Nate's demeanour. He seemed unconcerned at his situation even relaxed even though he knew that he was about to die. "Or better yet, why don't you just pull the trigger?"_

"_Oh no Nate…it's not going to be that easy, death alone is not good enough for you. You need to pay for what you did to me and to my brother."_

_Nate laughed a hard dark laugh. "What I did to your brother…I did the world a favour there, and as for you…well I can't help that you were stupid enough to believe that I would give you anything other than the same thing I gave your brother…" Nate said knowing his words were inflammatory and hoping that the man would lose control again. But Bryan smiled at the Mastermind._

"_Not this time Ford…" Bryan said. "I know your game and I am not playing. I am going to take your life, and you are going to suffer long and painfully before I give you your wish of death. Then I am going to put you somewhere they will never find you…"_

_Nate unscrewed the cap of the bottle and took a swig of the whiskey. Nate held out the bottle in the direction of Bryan who stepped closer to take the bottle from him. Nate saw the movement and when he felt the man was close enough he launched himself from the bed at the man. Nate fell heavily forward onto Bryan and the two of them went down. There was a bit of struggling then the sound of a gunshot and both of them became still. Then Bryan pushed Nate's body off of his and stood up looking down at the Mastermind. Nate lay gasping for breath and pressing down on the wound in his side squeezing his eyes shut against the pain._

"_Not so blind then…?" Bryan said catching his own breath. Then he bent down and lifted Nate up and dragged him out of the house and to the waiting car outside. _

"Then they drove off…" Hardison said. "I am tracking all the traffic cams but I lost them here…" He pointed at the intersection two streets away from the house.

"We should never have left him alone…we should never have just left him…" Sophie said softly.

"Sophie we will find them…" Eliot said. "Hardison will want to take Nate somewhere private, what is there in the direction they were headed in. He needs to stay out of sight of the police too so he will want to get out of sight as soon as possible."

"He will also want to go somewhere where he can dispose of Nate's body without it being found too soon. He has to do it quickly too, he knows we will be after him." Sterling added. "He still has connections and he will probably use them to get out of the country as soon as possible."

"The docks…" Parker said looking at the screen and visualising all the different ways they could go. "Hardison are there any ships that are owned or…or have connections to the Le Bronc family?"

Hardison quickly punched the information into his laptop and waited.

"Ok…good call girl. There is a freighter that is due to leave docks tonight headed for Europe, it is registered to the Bordelio Corporation which has is owned by…well long story short it is owned by the Le Bronc's."

"Let's go…" Eliot said heading towards the door.

"What about her…?" Sterling asked looking down at Margery.

"She'll be out for a while, we'll deal with her after we get Nate."

Sterling nodded and followed them out. Once they all climbed into the van he dialled a number on his phone getting a team to meet them at the docks but with strict orders to await his arrival before doing anything. They drove in silence hoping that they would get to Bryan before he did anything more to Nate.

**So it was Bryan who escaped and came after Nate. Will the team get to him before Bryan kills him? Thank you for all of your great reviews.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"You said nothing about a second…" The man said as he met Bryan on the docks and watched him unload the Mastermind from the passenger seat of the car. "Not to mention one with a bullet in him."

"He isn't travelling the whole route…" Bryan said dropping Nate to the hard tarmac and holding his hand out to the man. "Thanks Jeff…I owe you one."

"What's with the guy?" Jeff asked as he helped Bryan lift Nate up and start dragging him towards the waiting freighter.

"My business…let's just get on the ship ok…" Bryan said casting his eyes around the docks.

"Were you followed?" Jeff asked looking around nervously, the last thing he needed was trouble with the authorities.

"Nope…but the cops are going to be on the lookout for me and this guys' people too…let's just get out of sight and then I'll fill you in."

"We are on skeleton crew, only those I can trust, the rest have shore leave, they can't know about you until we have left port." Jeff said as they dragged Nate towards the boat.

"No problem, when do we sail…?"

"In a week… You going to keep him that long?"

"I thought it would be best if we quietly dropped him overboard once we are international waters." Bryan told him.

Jeff nodded and then they remained quiet as they got Nate below decks and dropped into a cabin which was empty and then close and lock the door as they left.

"I hope my quarters are better than that." Bryan smiled at his friend.

"Don't worry…you'll be taken care of." Jeff assured him leading him into his assigned cabin. It was small but well-furnished and Bryan nodded in satisfaction.

"This will do." Bryan said walking to the cabinet and pouring himself a whiskey from the bottle that stood there.

"So the guy…?"

"He killed my brother and he put me in prison." Bryan said.

"Ok well you do what you want with him, just do it before the others come back on board. We can dispose of his body later." Jeff said. Whatever Bryan was going to do he was sure that the man was going to suffer and he did not want his crew asking questions.

Outside on the dock Eliot pulled up keeping out of sight of the boat. Sterling's team were already there and waiting for them.

"They took Ford aboard a few minutes ago. Crew is limited, most are on shore leave. We have only one sentry watching the gang plank, don't know where the rest are, probably below decks." Sterling's man reported. Sterling nodded and turned to Eliot.

"So what's the plan Spencer?" He asked knowing that Eliot would want to run the show and willing to let him.

"We have to do this quietly. If Bryan suspects anything he will kill Nate." Eliot said. "How good are your guys?"

"Good enough." Sterling answered. "But as good as they are they are not getting on that boat unseen."

"I can help with that." Sophie said and before anybody could stop her she moved from behind the wall and walked towards the boat. The sentry on board saw her coming and moved to intercept her.

"Oh hello darling…" Sophie said seeing the man come towards her. "I appear to be lost…my husband told me to meet him at the docks for a romantic cruise but…well I don't see any pleasure boats here." She said in her most seductive voice. She was still dressed for her meeting with the producers and the man was staring at her with hungry eyes as she sauntered over.

"You got the wrong docks sweetheart…" the man smiled salaciously at her.

"Oh…oh no…what do I do now…?" She asked sounding terribly distraught at the thought that she was at the wrong place.

"Well I could show you how to get to the right place darling…" He said reaching out towards her. Then he suddenly jerked a few times before collapsing to the ground. Parker stood behind the unconscious body as smile on her face and a taser in her hand.

Eliot was immediately there and grabbed the unconscious man dragging him behind some barrels and out of sight.

"Ok…we split up and look for Nate. Keep it quiet if you have to take anybody out." Eliot said turning to Sterling. "Sophie, you and Hardison stay here." Sophie looked at Eliot and was about to say something but the look on the Hitters face told her not to argue. She had done here part, and now she had to trust him and the others to do theirs. She nodded and moved back. Eliot put his hand on her arm and smiled at her. "We'll find him." He said then moved up the gang plank along with Sterling, Parker and Sterling's swat team.

Time dragged by and Sophie and Hardison stared up at the deck of the ship waiting for Eliot to return with Nate. When they did eventually they did see people emerge onto the deck, the sight made both of their hearts stop. Bryan was standing at the edge of the boat holding Nate in front of him.

"One more step and I'll put a bullet in his brain and drop him over the edge." Bryan told the group standing in front of him.

One of Sterling's men had been spotted and had been forced to fire his weapon alerting everybody else on the boat to their presence. Bryan had immediately grabbed Nate and physically dragged the man up to the deck of the ship. Nate was still bleeding from his wound and Eliot could see the man was barely conscious as Bryan held him up in front of himself as they moved to the edge of the deck.

"Let him go and you walk off the ship." Eliot said drawing a look from Sterling but no word.

"You think I'm stupid?" Bryan laughed at him moving himself and Nate closer to the edge. "No you all back off, get in your cars and leave and then me and Nate here will take a little ride. You don't follow and I drop him off a little way along."

"I don't think so." Sterling said. He knew if Bryan left this ship with Nate it would be last time they saw the Mastermind alive.

Eliot kept his eyes fixed on Nate. The Mastermind looked bad. Then he looked at Bryan and fingered the knife he held in his hand. He had one chance and only one. In a blur of movement he threw the knife and it lodged into Bryan's head killing him instantly. Bryan fell sideways pushing Nate against the edge and before Eliot could get to him he let Nate fall, the Mastermind tried to keep himself upright but toppled sideways and then over the low rail and off the edge of the boat into the waters below.

"Nate…" Sophie screamed out.

Hardison saw what happened and without hesitation ran forward and dived into the cold waters and swam towards where Nate's body had hit the water. Eliot saw Nate fall and immediately dived over and into the water. Parker and Sterling ran to the edge and watched as Eliot dived down to try to get to the Mastermind as Hardison swam out. They both turned and sped down the gang plank and onto the dock. The three of them stood holding their breaths as Hardison too dived down into the murky waters. Sophie gasped in relief as she saw Eliot surface holding Nate up. He wrapped his arm around the Mastermind and started to swim towards the docks with Hardison following. Sterling moved to one of the ladders that led down into the water and grabbed the unconcous man pulling him up and onto the dock. He lay Nate out and checked if the man had a pulse and if he was breathing. He found no pulse and no respiration. He pulled Nate's head back and started to give the man CPR as Nate's family gathered around him. Sterling pumped Nate's chest and then breathed into him again.

"Come on Nate…" Hardison said watching as Sterling battled to get Nate to breathe again.

"Dammit Nate breathe…" Eliot growled out.

"Come on Nate…" Sterling said pumping his chest again. The Mastermind suddenly started to sputter and cough and Sterling immediately pulled him over into the recovery position allowing the water to spew from his lungs. Once he was done he let him fall back onto his back.

"Nate…" Sophie said dropping to her knees at his side. Nate stared up at her and blinked a few times before smiling at her.

"Hey beautiful…" He said then closed his eyes and fell back into unconsciousness.

"Ambulance is on the way sir." One of Sterling's men informed him. "We have the others rounded up."

It took the ambulance almost fifteen minutes to get there. They checked Nate out and then after hooking him up to an IV and putting a temporary bandage on Nate's gunshot wound they loaded the man onto a gurney and put him in the ambulance ready to be transported. They agreed that Sophie could travel with them and Sterling told the others they could go after them and he would clean up the rest. They wasted no time piling into Lucile and following the ambulance to the nearest hospital. Nate was immediately taken into the Emergency rooms and after being stabilised he was taken into surgery leaving the four members of his family to wait once more to find out his fate.

**Thank you all for the great reviews I do so very much appreciate each and every one of them.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

As they waited for news of Nate's condition Eliot joined Sophie. They sat in silence for a while but Eliot could see the woman was upset, but there was something more.

"Sophie…?"

"He called me beautiful." Sophie said looking up into the Hitter's eyes. "He looked at me and he called me beautiful."

"I know…" Eliot said. "But he knew you were there Sophie…"

"You don't believe he got his sight back? You don't believe he is going to be fine…?"

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying that you cannot get your hopes up. Nate calls you beautiful as a kind of 'pet' name and he knew you were there by his side. Sophie I just don't want…"

"I know. You don't want me getting my hopes up only to find that he is not better. But Eliot you saw, you saw what happened at the house too."

"He followed Bryan's voice and he has always been able to discern some movement, and light and darkness, Sophie we have to be realistic."

"He fought…" Sophie said softly.

"Yeah…" Eliot smiled at her. He had watched Nate antagonise Bryan in the house and he had for one dreadful moment thought that Nate had wanted the man to kill him, just as he had tried before, but this was different. Nate had done it to throw the man off balance, to get him to make a mistake so that he could at least make a try at fighting, even though in his condition he had not stood a chance.

"Yes he did…"

"Mrs Ford…?" A doctor said walking into the waiting area and interrupting their conversation.

"Yes…my husband…?"

"Is fine…He came through the surgery without incident. The bullet wound was a through and through and did little damage, apart from the blood loss. We had to recast his leg and his arm however the orthopaedic surgeon assures me that there was no significant injury to either limb. We will have to watch him for the after effects of near drowning but his lungs do not appear to be damaged. All in all he is a very lucky man Mrs Ford…"

"Yes he is…" She said softly. How many times was this where Nate had nearly lost his life, where he had tempted fate and survived? How many more times could he do it before his luck ran out?

"Well he is still in recovery but we will move him to a private room within the next hour. I will have the nurse call you when he is settled." The doctor said before taking his leave.

"Thank God…" Sophie said letting out the breath she had been holding. Nate had beaten the odds again.

A half hour later the four of them found themselves standing around the bed of the Mastermind. He was still asleep and hooked up to a myriad of machines which monitored everything from his blood oxygen levels to his heartbeat. He had a nasal cannula on to make sure he was receiving enough oxygen. He looked pale and fragile, but he was alive and that was all any of them cared about.

They had been told that Nate would probably not wake for at least another couple of hours. Once they had all made sure for themselves that Nate was going to be fine, Hardison, Parker and Eliot offered to go and get them all some coffee leaving Sophie alone with the Mastermind.

"Nate…" She said running her hand through his hair as she held his hand tightly. "When this is over we are going away, somewhere quiet where you can't get into any more trouble. You have to stop doing this because I can't handle it anymore." She said a tear slipping from her eye as she ran her hand over his cheek. "You are a bloody magnet for trouble and you keep insisting on putting a target on your own back, well you have to stop you hear me. I need you. They need you and you just…well you just keep trying to get yourself killed." She continued talking to the unconscious man as the tears of fear and relief now flowed freely down her face. "I love you dammit, don't you understand that, don't you know that I would…I couldn't…I can't lose you."

"You won't ever lose me Sophie…" She heard a soft pain filled voice whisper.

"Nate…" She said looking down at the Mastermind just as he opened his eyes. She stared down at him into his blue eyes that she loved more than anything else in the world.

"You won't ever lose me…" He said lifting his hand and wiping the tears from her face and smiling at her.

"You can…you can see…?" She asked hesitantly as she watched him run his eyes over her.

"Blurry but yes…and you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen…" He smiled.

"Oh Mr Ford…even after nearly dying and lying in a hospital room you are still a charmer…" She said leaning in for a kiss. She gently placed her lips on his but before she could pull away he wrapped his arm around her and held her close deepening the kiss.

"I'm sorry…" He said as he pulled slightly away. "For the way I was acting…for…"

"Shhh…" Sophie said stopping him from talking by kissing him again. "It doesn't matter Nate…" She whispered. "You are here and you are going to be fine and that is all that matters."

"I love you Sophie…" He said tears forming in his own eyes as he looked up at her.

"And I love you Nate." She said softly.

"What about Margery, Bryan said…" Nate said suddenly remembering his nurse who Bryan had intimated he had killed.

"She is fine. She has a nasty bump on her head but no real damage." Sophie told him.

"Thank God…" Nate said closing his eyes. He was so damn tired.

"Why don't you go back to sleep darling…? You need to rest and we can talk later." She said resting her hand on his forehead as she watched him fight to stay awake.

"The others…" Nate said his voice fading though as he drifted closer back to unconsciousness.

"Everybody is fine Nate…" She said running her hand through his hair. "Just rest darling, we will all be here when you wake up I promise."

"Tell them…tell them 'thank you'…" Nate said losing his battle to stay awake.

"I will my darling…" She said kissing him gently on the forehand and then sitting down beside his bed his hand still firmly clasped in her.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you all for the great reviews they are so appreciated.**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The following morning Nate was sitting up and insisting that he needn't stay any longer in the hospital, that he was fine and ready to go home. Although the doctor tried to convince him otherwise, the other members of his team were silent on the matter and just watched the battle of wills, which Nate eventually won, the doctor consenting to him being discharged that afternoon with strict instructions to take it easy and to rest.

That evening found them all gathered around Sophie and Nate's dining room table having dinner.

"Guys…" Nate said sitting back in his chair when they were done, his leg resting on a stool that Parker had placed under the table with a pillow on it. "I just want to say I'm sorry…"

"Well this is a red letter day then." Hardison smiled earning himself a frown from Nate.

"I behaved badly and I know you were all just trying to help." Nate continued.

"We understand." Parker told him smiling broadly. She was just happy they were all together and that everything had turned out alright, not that she had doubted it would. She had complete faith in Nate and his ability to survive anything, and to get them through anything.

"Nonetheless, I should not have…well I should have…"

"We get it Nate. We know you. It's your way of dealing." Eliot said trying to help the Mastermind out. "We don't take it personally…"

Nate looked at the Hitter and smiled. They did know him, better than any other people on earth, he had never let anybody this close to him, except maybe Maggie and at one time Jim Sterling. He could not imagine his life without them now, despite his behaviour before. Before that first job, before Dubenich he had just been existing…waiting for the end to come and maybe even hastening it in the jobs he took and the amount of liquor he consumed. He could not understand why they had wanted to stay together as a team after that first job. He had tested them, pushed them and waited for the inevitable which had never come. No matter what they had stuck together, well except for that brief moment when Sophie had left them. But she had come back and today they had a stronger bond than they had ever had. He smiled to himself as he thought about each and every time he had tried to leave them…or do something alone to spare them hurt, they had always come after him, always been there for him.

"But one thing…you are a bit of a slow learner…" Hardison said softly interrupting his thoughts. He looked up at the Hacker and raised his eyebrow in question. "I mean, you should know by now that no matter what you say or do…we are a family, you made us a family, there is no way we let you go it alone…not in anything. Not least of all if you are going to do something stupid or are hurt...we would never let you go."

Silence followed Hardison's little speech. Sophie smiled at the Hacker her eyes awash with tears. Parker grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly nodding in agreement with everything he had said. Eliot looked down at the table as slight smile touching his lips.

"I'll drink to that…" Sophie said lifting her glass.

"To family…" Eliot said raising his beer into the air.

"Family…" Hardison said lifting his orange soda.

"Our family…" Parker smiled.

"My family…all of you…" Nate said softly lifting his whiskey glass up.

**Well that is the end of another story. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you so much to all of you for reading and reviewing. Stellaru, Sphinxius, huttonfan, Sandy-wmd and carebear818 thank you so much for your constant support it is greatly appreciated. YeahLev I hope you enjoyed the story and thanks again for the idea. Leveragus, SusieDevereaux, february28, ThunderAllAround, Adee Devereaux, Nophiefan and A Lyrical Dreamer thank you all for your support and for taking the time to review. To all of you who favorited and followed the story, thank you as well, I really appreciate all your support.**


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